The Life and Times of a Navigator
by Earth Queen
Summary: CHAPTER 10 UP! I always thought he wasn't getting the attention he really deserved. I mean, come ON! He was all alone and stuck for a hundred years on Treasure Planet for crying out loud! That's why I wrote this story to commemorate to my favorite robot.
1. First Moments

**A/N:** I have been wanting to do something like this for a long time. Yay! I finally got a shot at it! And my reason for writing this story is mainly because I noticed that so many stories have been written on Jim Hawkins. Not that I don't like him. So, I thought B.E.N. wasn't getting enough attention. I mean, come _ON!_ B.E.N.'s been living on Treasure Planet for a hundred years without anyone to be his friend! Doesn't he deserve more than what he's getting? That's why I'm writing this story, to commemorate to my favorite robot, and hopefully draw more attention to him. He really deserves it! To explain, this is basically B.E.N.'s life, from the very start, through his own eyes, down to the last detail. I'm even adding in Lupe too, who has a little secret to hide. Oh, and I'm also telling about B.E.N.'s horrible servitude to Captain Flint (Sorry, B.E.N. huggles B.E.N. apologetically). So, now we start with B.E.N.'s very earliest memory. Enjoy! Oh, and reviews are most appreciated. Please and thank you!

**Chapter One: First Moments**

Pitch-black oblivion was all the robot could see. His body seemed to have a slight sting that faded quickly. It felt like he'd been temporarily paralyzed. Was that what had happened to him? He had no recollection of it. He panned around in confusion. His mind was screaming for answers to his countless questions. Where was he? How was he to escape what felt like a prison? And more importantly, what was his name? As far as he was able to figure, he _had_ no name.

His eyes were a very dark blue, the pupils a titanic white. He looked down at himself and saw his dark-hued, skinny, metal limbs. Moving his eyes down lower, he discovered a peculiar-looking disk that was somehow implanted into his entire front. The disk was a pale white with a yellow trimming. Inside the trimming was what appeared to be a brown eight-armed star with a long, red-tipped arrow running in a diagonal direction down the very center.

Of course, he attempted to ask himself what this piece was that was attached to his front, but his thoughts on the matter were transitory. He knew nothing of where, what, or who he was. Was he even real? If so, was he even alive? No answer came.

Voices startled him. They sounded distant, but were loud all the same. The voices were indistinct, as they all spoke in an overlapping manner. The robot attempted to hide, but he found that he was stuck in a sitting position and could not move from his spot. The voices faded from audibility. He thought he could make out the words of the last, remaining voice. "No. I will take him to my lab and repair him. He received quite a shock." Unfortunately, he was unable to understand the meaning of those words. Confusion and perplexity were all he felt. Most of all, solitude.

A light suddenly came into view a short distance away. He had no knowledge of what it was. Somehow he felt it was something positive. He reluctantly tried to move towards it, wary of not being able to budge from his spot. Amazingly, he _was_ able, but all he could do was crawl on his hands and knees as if gravity restricted him to such a level. Creeping towards the light, he found that it was increasing in size. Soon enough, it engulfed the world in which he formally sat. He was suddenly blinded. White was all he could see now. Then white _noise_.

A hard and violent hammering pounded inside his chest. Was that a heartbeat? No, he was a robot. Robots don't have hearts, but could he be an exception? It didn't feel to him like a real, more fleshy heart. Perhaps it was artificial, but how would he know?

The figure in front of his eyes was too distorted to make out in the least bit. The sting in his body returned. Thankfully, it subsided in a few seconds. He heard a different voice. This new voice was more feminine and possessed a gentle tone. "The subject is coming to, Professor."

The voice he'd heard before spoke up again. "At last."

The robot blinked his large, telescopic eyes, which were now a bright, metallic blue and the pupils their normal black, and the white noise was beginning to clear up. He was almost able to make out the figure he was now seeing. Then, something pushed its way up his throat and escaped through his mouth.

"Repairs and modifications completed! All systems rebooted and fully functional!" he blurted out. He snapped his eyes wide open. "For heaven's sake. Did that come outta me?" The memory of the former world he'd just escaped lingered for a bit, but vanished from his mind. Then, he felt a shooting, pounding pain in his head, bringing him to press it was his hands. "Oh, what hit me?" he moaned.

"Welcome back, my friend," the same voice greeted warmly. "We thought we'd lost you there."

Naturally, the robot was befuddled and tried to sit up, but his head came right up and smacked hard on a hovering metal object with a loud _CLANG_. He then fell to the floor from what seemed like a table. It turned out that he'd hit his head on an overhanging lamp, which also explained the bright light he'd seen. His body singed with pain. "Ouch," he groaned. "That's gonna left a huge mark." He suddenly felt delirious. "Oh, honey, tell me when the purp juice is ready."

"Maybe we've still lost you," continued the voice. As it came to be, the voice belonged to a man. The man was a human who was in his late 30s. He had a dark brown goatee and short, flowing blonde hair. The man's physique was a bit on the scrawny side, but not as much scrawny as it was strong. His eyes had a blue sparkle to them, much like sapphires, but a tad brighter. His smile was warm, and charming to boot.

The feminine voice belonged to another robot, a female android to be exact. She was about a foot shorter than the human man. Her exo-skin was a shiny, light blue and her figure matched that of a grown, mature woman. Her hair was about waist-length and true blue in color; her eyes were twice as large as any human's and were completely azure with moon-white irises and pupils; and her face was as perfect as a sculpted angel. She also wore a simple ensemble of an azure top and long, flowing skirt.

The man and the android helped the dizzied robot up from the floor with concern. For a second, the man and android assumed that the robot would be able to stand on his own and the two loosened their grip on him, an action that caused him to fall back to the hard floor. "Ouch," the robot groaned again as he was lifted up once more and set on the table he'd just woken up on.

"The subject appears weak," the android observed. "He requires rest, more time to recover."

"You're right," the man agreed.

Finally, the white noise faded entirely from the robot's vision, but he still felt fatigued and dazed. He shook his head and squinted at the two figures in front of him. The blur that lingered from the white noise slowly cleared and he could make out the man and the android. "Huh? Who are _you _guys? Where am I? _Who_ am I?"

"My name is professor Martin Trohs," the man introduced. "This is my assistant, Luna5."

"And you're in a robotics lab," the android stepped in with explanation.

The robot was overcome with confusion. He asked, "I am? How'd I get _here?_"

"Well, you were just a few minutes into operation and there was a storm. The storm caused a power surge and you received quite a nasty shock and blacked out."

"I did?" The robot tried to recall the event, but was unable to retrieve the memory at all. He scratched his head. "That's funny. I can't remember a thing."

"Well, it wasn't much of a loss," Martin said, and he was right. "I'm beginning to think that the power surge helped. But before you are given a name, we must first run you through a few tests."

The robot was caught off his guard. Suddenly he wasn't sure of himself. "Tests? B-but I haven't studied! I-I don't even have a #2 pencil!"

"No need. And don't worry. I'm sure you'll do fine. Now, I need you to do something for me: plot the exact distance in miles from this very room to the planet Montressor."

Immediately and almost unconsciously, the robot activated his systems. The large compass on his chest doubled as an entire navigational system when opened on his front. The opening exposed the gears inside the robot's torso. His fingers were a blur at the buttons behind his compass as he calculated for the answer. "Exactly 2,289,532,473. Whew. And I thought you had a challenge for me." And the compass retracted back to his front. He felt truly amazed with himself. "Wow. I did that _fast!_"

"_Incredibly _fast. Three times faster than any human or alien." Martin gestured to the android. "Eh, Luna5, give him that other test."

"Huh? What other test?" the robot asked somewhat uneasily, thinking that this next one would be pushing his limits.

"Oh, yes," replied Luna5, remembering. "The physical response test."

The robot relaxed a little. "Oh, that doesn't sound so bad—_yowch!_" He yelped. He found that Luna5 had knocked the head of a reflex hammer against a spot just under his wheeled knee. "Wh-what was _that_ for?"

"That was the classic reflex response, which tests positive," Luna5 explained while the robot rubbed the spot on his knee where he'd been nipped by the head of that hammer. "Next is the comfort response." And she began to gently massage the robot's metal shoulders.

Every part of the robot released all tension and he himself was sighing from the relaxation he was being given. "Ooh, that feels pretty good."

"Comfort response tests positive. And last," the android finished off, "the amusement response." She slapped a look of playful mischief on her face and she began to tickle the robot around his torso and middle part, causing him to completely double over with laughter.

"Ah! Okay, okay! Stop! I give! I give! Ha, ha, ha, ha! Stop! Ha, ha, ha, ha! Stop! I'm ticklish! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

Luna5 giggled and decided to give the robot a chance to catch his breath as he put a hand to his chest and feeling that same pounding sensation from inside. He then unconsciously realized that it was an electronic pulse unit, or an artificial heart.

Martin had been laughing as well at the humorous sight of Luna5 tickling the robot. At once, he came up with a name for the robot, and before he could suppress it, he said the name out loud: "B.E.N."

"B.E.N.?" the robot repeated in question. "Who's B.E.N.?"

"That's your name. It's an acronym. It is short for Bio-Electronic Navigator. See? 'Bio' because you live—you've certainly proven that—'Electronic' because your primary power source is solar batteries which send electrical currents to your sensors, and 'Navigator' because that is now your specialty. And that is what I intended you to be."

"B.E.N. Bio-Electronic Navigator," the robot let the name roll off his tongue with intrigue. "I like that sound of that. Yeah. Just call me B.E.N."

"That makes perfect sense," said Luna5.

At once, Martin was overcome with an inspiration. "I'm going to tell my colleagues about you, now that you're awake, B.E.N. I'm sure they'd love to see you."

"Really? You think so?" the robot said, smiling hopefully.

"Yes. Now, I'll be back. You two stay here, keep each other company." With that, the professor was out of the room through the double-doors in a flash, leaving B.E.N. alone with Luna5.

After about a moment, B.E.N. hopped off the table. He thought he was able to walk all his own, but discovered that he couldn't when he stumbled terribly and fell to the floor, his weak legs giving way beneath him. Luna5 helped him backed up on his feet. "It's going to take you some time getting used to walking," she explained as she helped him stand.

"Whoa…" B.E.N. stammered, stumbling as he tried walking a little ways. After a bit of shuffling, he began walking with more success. "Hey, this is pretty easy." But again, he stumbled, almost falling. Luna5 quickly caught him before he could fall again. "Well, sorta," he chuckled.

"This is how I started out, too, trust me."

It was a moment of awkward silence.

"So…uh…" B.E.N., breaking through the quiet, asked Luna5, who gave him an enchanting smile and he felt himself flush and his electronic pulse unit—er, heart—beat faster, "how long have _you_ been here?"

"Oh, only a few months," she answered matter-of-factly.

"Really?" He suddenly felt bashful around her.

"Uh-huh," she nodded.

"Oh."

It was silent again. Well, for a short moment, anyway.

B.E.N. was suddenly overcome with a brand-new feeling of internal emptiness, giving him some sort of craving. A strange, uncontrollable, metallic gurgle rumbled and erupted from down inside his middle. "Whoa!" Startled and confused, he doubled back and landed on the floor, worriedly looking down at his middle. "W-what was _that_? Is there something…_angry_ inside me?"

"No, of course, not," Luna5, kneeling down next to him, told him with a chortle and pointed at his middle. "That's just your stomach growling; you're hungry."

"It is? I am?" He was now more surprised than he was afraid.

"Of course," Luna5 smiled.

"Whew. That's a relief." As if mercilessly reminding him, B.E.N.'s newly discovered stomach gurgled and growled in the same metallic manner. "Uh…you wouldn't happen to have anything to eat by chance, would you?" he asked bashfully of the android.

"Oh, yes. Professor Trohs always keeps a special storage in here." As B.E.N. got to his feet again, Luna5 began looking around the littered room. She then came across a large trunk and opened it up, revealing a neat assortment of metal pieces and cans of petroleum. "Here we go. Pure black petroleum and aluminum-filled chippers. You'll love these."

"Ooh, yum."

B.E.N. eyed the cans of petroleum and the chippers as Luna5 brought them over on a plate to the table and subtly licked and smacked his copper lips ravenously. The cans of petroleum were cylinder-shaped with a pouring nozzle on top that served as a sort of straw. The chippers were shaped like chicken's eggs and were made with a thin outer shell of tin. The shell was filled with a jellied aluminum alloy.

Eagerly picking up a chipper from the plate, B.E.N. popped it into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed the chipper, feeling it slide easily down his throat and into his stomach. "Mmm! _Boy_, that's good!" he exclaimed, and he promptly began taking a few more of the chippers, as well as getting a taste of the petroleum. Luna5 laughed, amused at his enthusiasm, as she herself began eating a few chippers and drinking the pure oil.

Suddenly, Martin came back into the room. "I have some great news," he announced. He stopped and observed what B.E.N. and Luna5 were doing. "Ah, I see your electronic digestive unit is fully functional."

"Huh?"

Luna5 pointed at B.E.N.'s middle. "You're stomach, remember?" she said with a giggle, translating the technical term.

"Oh, right. Heh-heh."

"Anyway," said Martin to B.E.N., "I've talked to my colleagues about you, and they would be delighted to meet you."

"Really? Oh, I can't wait to meet them!"

"Yes, but we must get you ready if you're going to meet them; my colleagues expect a nice, clean presentation of you."

—

B.E.N. was soon seated in a chair off to one side of the room with a reluctant expression. He was going to be cleaned, polished, and buffed just for the presentation. Martin and Luna5 checked him over for any outer flaws.

"Well, there is a bit of dust all over him," Luna5 observed, lifting one of B.E.N.'s arms and examining it. "And there are a few stains from before we repaired him."

"Gee. Didn't know I was so filthy," said B.E.N., looking at himself.

"And a few of his joints are loose."

Martin nodded. "I'll get to tightening those joints, and you'll be polishing and buffing him. I need you to get the screw driver, the buffer, and the polish."

"Yes, Professor." And she did as she was asked, fetching the necessary tools.

Martin began tightening the loose joints in the B.E.N.'s wrists, knees, ankles, neck, fingers, and shoulders. At the same time, Luna5 was polishing his body and buffing any parts of him that needed buffing. It was like being in a dressing room and B.E.N. was being pampered and cleaned by his own personal fixer-uppers. It felt good to him, but he was made aware that he would have to do this himself when this was over. He was also told that once a month he would have to have someone buff his metal and charge his eye sockets (I mean hey, he needs his eyes to be in tip-top shape since he's a navigator).

The whole cleaning, tightening, and buffing process took about half and hour. B.E.N. looked at himself in a mirror when he was finally fixed up. He gazed in awe at his reflection and discovered how human he really appeared, save for the compass on his front and his telescopic eyes. B.E.N., Bio-Electronic Navigator, was as shiny and spruced up as a freshly built ship that was ready to venture out into the great unknown.

"Wow. Is this really what I look like?" he wondered with a wide grin and looked closely at the mirror. "I had no idea I was this…well…"

"Cute?" Luna5 finished for him, coming close to the robot.

"Really? You think I'm cute?"

He turned to the android with a bashful look on his face. In fact, his whole face was flushing with warmth. Just then, Luna5 chortled with a stifled laugh. Why was she laughing? B.E.N. then heard a peculiar sound. _Ba-bum_._ Ba-bum_. _Ba-bum_. _Ba-bum_. He felt the sound pulse and pound rhythmically inside his chest. Confused, he glanced down and noticed that his compass had turned itself around in its place and revealed his navigational system. The tiny screen in the top center showed a throbbing, pink heart. Is that why she was laughing? Well, B.E.N. couldn't help laughing, either.

Then Luna5 came up and planted a kiss on the side of his metal cheek. Warm steam whistled from the crooks of B.E.N.'s chest as he literally smiled from ear to ear. He suddenly felt his temperature skyrocket, his heart quickened, and all of the steam was released. "Wow!" he exclaimed and shook his head. And all three of them laughed.

It was a strange yet wonderful feeling. B.E.N. had never felt this way. Granted, he had just woken up, but still… He knew one thing: he really liked Luna5. She had both inner and outer beauty that no robot like B.E.N. could ever resist.

Then they all walked out the door. B.E.N. was going to present himself to the other robotics engineers. But first he had to learn to do the things that he would be presenting. Fortunately, he was able to memorize the material in very little time. Soon enough, B.E.N. was ready.

To be continued…

—

Okay. You know the professor's first name is Martin. Spell the name Trohs backwards. What do you get? The origin of the name comes from the name of the actor who provided the voice for B.E.N. You could say he also gave some of his own personality to B.E.N., almost as if he took part in creating the character. And Martin Trohs is B.E.N.'s creator in this story, too. Pretty cool, huh?

So? What do you think so far? Want to see where this goes? Well, you're gonna have to wait for Chapter Two. Reviews are most appreciated!


	2. A Case of Lovesickness

It took me such a _long_ time to come up with a clear idea for this chapter! Sorry for the wait. In case no one saw the review I put for my own story, I would love it if MidnightMoon14 would illustrate for my story. By all means, have at it! Go crazy! I'd _love_ to see your work. But I need to know if there is a link to the page the illustration will be at and what the link is. How else will I be able to view it?

**Chapter Two: A Case of Lovesickness**

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my newest creation and my first successful attempt at artificial intelligence since the achievement of my wife, a robot with life, an efficient power source, and unmatched navigational, historical, and artistic intellect, B.E.N., the Bio-Electronic Navigator," Martin announced to a large crowd of technicians, engineers, and scientists of all alien races. The audience cheered as B.E.N. walked into the small auditorium, waving a greeting and smiling big. He stopped and stood beside Martin, who put a hand on his shoulder.

"I am proud to say that the repairs to his systems, after the power surge caused by the storm, have been more than successful. He has tested excellently and has proven to me how much alive he really is, not taking credit from Luna5, who has provided her own blueprints for B.E.N.'s construction." The crowd cheered. B.E.N. felt flattered by that, and he noticed Luna5 in the front of the audience, smiling and waving to him.

"Professor Trohs," an alien engineer called out. "Can you tell us exactly how B.E.N. operates?"

"Well, you don't have to ask me. Why don't you ask B.E.N. yourself?" He gestured towards B.E.N., who timidly pointed at himself as the crowd murmured.

The same engineer asked, "I have a question for you, B.E.N. When was the uninhabited planet Arcturia discovered and by whom?"

"Well, that's not so hard to know," B.E.N. replied in simple explanation, as though he were teaching a class, and continued at a slightly quickened pace of speaking. "It was discovered exactly 1,000,000.24 years ago by a group of _way_ smart alien scientists, who were using their advanced technology to study other planets. How they built their technology is beyond even _my_ knowledge."

The crowd murmured in awe.

"B.E.N., how many other planetary languages do you speak?" a scientist asked.

"Well…uh, I've never spoken in any other language except this one, but I would have to say over fifty. I mean there are over fifty alien races and over a hundred plates in the empire, aren't there?"

Once again, the crowd murmured, impressed.

"What is the square root of 1,564?" a technician called out.

Immediately, B.E.N. answered, "39.54743987. Why?"

"Since you are a living droid, I was wondering if you have any creativity in you," an engineer said out loud to B.E.N.

"Eh, you tell me."

"Can you recite a line from Shakespeare?"

"Sure. Which one?"

"Romeo, when he is saying to Juliet, 'What light…'"

B.E.N. knew exactly what the engineer was talking about. When he looked towards Luna5, who was smiling at him from her seat in the crowd, he was suddenly overcome with the urge to dramatize. And he pulled it off perfectly. "But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east and Juliet is the sun." The crowd clapped for his performance. He took a few bows. And Luna5 sighed tenderly.

The thing was that B.E.N. was directing the famous line to Luna5. She didn't know it but he was throwing a piece of his heart out to her. He was beginning to more than just like her.

For about another hour, B.E.N. was plotting exact coordinates, answering historical and mathematical questions with ease, laughed at a couple of jokes, cried at a touching story, and showed more of his artistic ability by quickly painting an abstract picture on a canvass. He also rewired a simple machine, typed a 5,000-word essay in under two minutes with his fast fingers, presented his excellent penmanship, played an extremely complicated piece on a violin, and baked a delicious cake.

"Thank you, B.E.N., for your wonderful and awe-inspiring demonstrations of yourself," Martin congratulated and the crowd cheered for the robot.

"Oh, it was nothing, really," B.E.N. chuckled modestly. He was somewhat exhausted from all the work he put into this whole presentation, but he was just as happy to show himself off to the cheering crowd scientists, biologists, astronomers, technicians, and mechanical engineers. He felt liked and admired. And it was never to be in his nature to let his early fame get to his head. He wasn't made that way. He would only show his smarts when he absolutely needed to. And besides, the only one his heart was really opening up to was Luna5.

The lovely android stood backstage, passionately watching B.E.N. leave the stage as he waved to his audience. Luna5's eyes then wandered away into space while she lovingly daydreamed of B.E.N. perhaps asking her out on a date. But she wasn't the judge of that. It was always the man's job to ask the lady out on a date.

Both of them were distracted by their own thoughts. Just as B.E.N. was walking backstage and Luna5 twirling about from her daydream…"_Oof!_" Well, I think you get what happened.

B.E.N. was the first to pick himself back up from the ground after colliding with the female android. That was a little embarrassing, if not painful. This was also one of his earliest clumsy moments besides the first few falls he took in the lab where he'd first woken up. He noticed that she, too, was on the ground, sitting herself up. "Oh! Luna5!" The robot felt panicked and was frantic to help her, taking her hand. "I-I-I-I…I'm really sorry. Sorry," he chuckled, fixing up Luna5's dress. "Uh-I-I had no idea where I was going and…"

"No, no, it's all right," Luna5 replied, smiling. "We all do these things sometimes."

"Mr. Navigator, sir!" a British voice called out to B.E.N., who leaned over to the side to see behind Luna5. She turned in the same general direction that B.E.N. was looking. They both saw a well-dressed alien man. The alien had blue skin and a head that resembled a hammerhead shark. The hammerhead vigorously shook B.E.N.'s little hand, his joints rubbing against one another and creating a subtle squeaking sound. "It was an honor to see your presentation. My name is Smithers McDermin-Hagen, head of the Interplanetary Trading Company. But you can call me Smithy." And Martin happened to be standing right there. "Professor Trohs. Such an honor to meet you. And what a privilege it is to see your wonderful creation in person."

"Thank you, sir," Martin said, somewhat flattered. "B.E.N. is one miracle I'll never forget. He is my first attempt at artificial intelligence and an overwhelming success."

"Indeed he is."

"But…he must be treated the same way as Luna5. He is a _living_ machine, as you may already know by now. So, he must be treated like everyone else. He has wishes and dreams and emotions."

"Oh, yes! Of course. What an amazing paragon he is. Just like Luna5."

B.E.N. felt flattered by this. "Oh, well, heh-heh, I can't take _all_ the credit."

"Of course." The hammerhead lowered his voice to a whisper, leaning down towards Martin. "Oh, I am terribly sorry about your wife. I know it must be very hard on you and your family."

The hammerhead wasn't very good at keeping his voice low; B.E.N. was able to hear enough of what was said. But he couldn't comprehend it "Huh?"

"It's all right," Martin replied in soft melancholy. "She couldn't be saved."

What was he talking about? What did he mean by "she couldn't be saved"? _Who_ couldn't be saved?

The hammerhead turned his attention back to B.E.N. with a cheery grin on his face. "Right-o, then, Mr. Navigator. You'll be seeing me again soon," he promised. "You all have a lovely day." And he disappeared into the crowd.

"Okay, see ya!" B.E.N. called, waving.

"Hey, B.E.N.?" said Luna5. B.E.N. turned to face her, blushing a little. "You did wonderful with you presentation."

"Me? Well, heh-heh, you know…" He was too bashful to put his feelings into words, but it was clear by his flushed expression that the more he saw Luna5 the shier he was becoming around her. And it was clear to her that he liked her…a lot.

The android's expression suddenly turned timid and somewhat sad. It sent a foreboding jolt through B.E.N. when she spoke. "Listen, B.E.N.," she said slowly. "There's something you have to know."

"What? What is it?" he asked anxiously.

"Well, you know that I have been Martin's assistant for a while now, helping him achieve his goal, and that was bringing you to life. And now that you're here…and alive…and complete…he no longer needs my assistance."

"Huh? What are you saying? 'Cause judging by the tone quality in your voice it doesn't sound good."

"It's just that…since I'm no longer needed…I'll be holding a job elsewhere."

"Uh…wait. Does this mean we can't ever see each other again? Ever?"

"Oh, no, no. It's not that. You'll still see me…a-around…you know." She paused. "I'll be working as a nurse at a local hospice."

Hearing this, B.E.N. became happy for Luna5. "Oh, that's fantastic! You're gonna be a _great_ nurse, Luna5."

"Thank you," she giggled shyly. "Well, I have to be going. I begin work immediately. And don't worry. We'll still see each other from time to time." As a final send-off, Luna5 came up and planted a friendly kiss on B.E.N.'s metal cheek. "That's a promise." And with that, she made her leave, waving as she went.

The robot smiled and his face became a clear depiction of his infatuation with Luna5. He once again felt the strange, warm and fuzzy feeling inside. In addition, his heart beat slightly faster. "Heh-heh. Okay…so, I'll be seein' ya! Bye." He sighed lovingly as he waved after Luna5, chuckling to himself. "Boy, is she just an angel, or what?"

"I would say so," Martin's voice agreed behind B.E.N., who jumped with a start and turned to face the professor, a little embarrassed. "You should take her out on a date with you."

The meaning of the suggestion was new to B.E.N., and it left him confused. "Eh…you kinda lost me there. I should do _what _now?"

"I mean you should take her someplace special. Give her a gift that she'd like," Professor Trohs explained.

"Why?"

"Well, you do this for a woman to let her know that you have feelings for her and also to build the relationship. Everyone does this. Especially if a man likes a woman."

"Well, um, technically, I'm not necessarily a _man_. Heck, I'm not even _human_."

"No, but you're alive, regardless of your hard, metal exterior. Anyway, I think Luna5 would greatly appreciate it if you asked her out on a date."

"Really? You think so?" B.E.N. felt hopeful.

"I _know_ so. First, though, I want to take you to home."

"Home? What's that?"

"A place for you to live and call your own."

"Wow! That sounds _fantastic!_"

—

For the very first time in his life, B.E.N. got to see the outside world. The sky was washed with a gorgeous blue color and clouds streaked and puffed up on the infinite canvas. A bright, golden sun shined its light down on the world and bathed the scenery in its natural glow. Old English-style buildings lined down either side of the dirty street. Aliens of all sorts walked here and there. The environment was lush with exotic trees and grassy hills. In fact, the whole town sat on a giant hill slope. To top it off, a wide, blue ocean in the distance, at the base of the town, stretched out forever and merged as one with the sky.

Conveniently, Martin owned a private, bullyadous-drawn carriage. He and B.E.N. sat in the back seat as it bounded slowly down the road. Every which way they went, Martin would point out objects and customs that B.E.N. had many questions of as he saw them. Sometimes, B.E.N. knew things he never thought he knew and sometimes he thought he knew things that he really didn't know. He was told about the universal economy in general and how the system worked.

The carriage soon traveled up a hill and too a beautifully built mansion. It was bright in its design and presented a civilized yet fun feel to it. It wasn't as big as most other mansions, but that didn't matter. B.E.N. was too excited, knowing that he had a home.

In a few minutes, Martin led B.E.N. up the walkway in front of the mansion entrance and up to the front door. After unlocking the door, Martin then led B.E.N. inside.

The foyer's walls had tall, clear windows that allowed the sunlight to pour into the room. The Old English style was present again in the entire interior of the mansion. The architecture simply blew B.E.N.'s mind. He was almost at a loss for words. All he could say was, "Wow…get a _load_ of this place!"

"Like it?" said Martin. "This is only a fraction of what you'll see. And don't worry about getting lost. I've programmed a blue-print layout of the house into your primary memory circuit."

"Wow, really?" B.E.N. could now see the whole map of the house in his mind. Of course, the layout didn't include the detailed architecture and colors. It was more like a floor plan. "Gee, you think of _everything_."

"My children are going to love meeting you."

"You're kidding! You have kids?"

"Of course."

Just then three young voices cried out happily, "Daddy's home! Daddy's home!" The voices revealed themselves to be three little children, two girls and one boy. One girl stood taller than the rest, the other shorter, and the boy in between. The taller girl had long, blonde hair and blue eyes. The boy, who was shorter than the girl, had scruffy, brown hair and green eyes. The smallest of the trio, the little girl, had short, blonde hair and silver eyes. All three had the faces of how one would picture children to look.

The taller girl gazed at the robot, who was grinning in awe. "Dad," the girl wondered, "is that the robot? The one you've been working on?"

"Yes, Olivia," Martin answered with a fatherly smile. "Children, this is B.E.N."

"Hi there," B.E.N. greeted with a friendly wave.

"Wow!" the boy responded and pointed, amazed. "He's-he's all talking and stuff…like a real person."

B.E.N. couldn't help chortling at how adorable they all were. "Oh, aren't you just the cutest things."

"Aren't they?" Martin agreed. "If you'll excuse me, I have some work to do. Children, why don't you keep B.E.N. company?"

"Okay, Dad," all three of them answered in unison.

"Now, children…" Martin turned serious and firm. "I want you treat B.E.N. with respect. He may be a machine, but he has thoughts and feelings just like you and I. Understand?" The children nodded their heads. They understood perfectly. "Good. I'm off." With that, Martin left the foyer.

"So, so, so, Daddy made you?" the boy said.

"Yep, he sure did," B.E.N. replied, smiling sweetly.

"That's so cool," added the older girl.

"Well, enough about me. What are your names? How old are you? If you don't mind me asking."

"I'm Olivia. I'm 8 years old," the taller girl introduced.

It was the boy's turn. "I'm Michael, and I'm 6." He held up his hands, showing six fingers.

But the youngest girl didn't speak. "This is Miley. She's 3," Olivia explained. "She doesn't talk a whole lot, but she likes to play and have fun."

"Awww," B.E.N. cooed. "Well, isn't she precious." He tickled the toddler around the cheek, and she giggled with delight.

In a minute, the children had B.E.N. sitting in one of the foyer couches as they sat around him, asking him many questions as to what he could do and what he liked. The children found that B.E.N. was able to cook, take part in the arts, do many things with his voice and body to act out a part in order to delight his audience, and name every historical date and answer any mathematics question he was give. He told them what he liked as well. His favorite color was blue, he liked children—now that he'd become acquainted with Martin's kids—he liked to do the many things he could do, and he enjoyed dining on chippers and pure, black oil, unrefined (unlike the noxious gas he humans keep wasting).

One question caught B.E.N. off his guard. Olivia asked him if he had a girlfriend. The first thing that came to mind was…Luna5. But was she really his girlfriend? He'd only met her just today, on his first day of life! Well, he did have feelings for her. Did that count?

"Well," he answered finally, "there _is_ this girl…" He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, a little bashful.

"Ooh! What's she like?" Olivia eagerly wanted to know. "Is she pretty?"

"Pretty? Oh, she is _beautiful!_ Her eyes shine just like the moon…" he sighed affectionately, lost in the daydream. "I tell ya, she is an absolute _angel_…" The feelings he had for Luna5 were strong, and until now he never took them to consideration. "You know something? Whenever I see her face or even _think_ about her I…I feel so strange."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh." He nodded. "My knees feel like jelly—" his knees could be seen trembling slightly "—my electronic pulse unit beats really fast—" his heart could be heard pounding behind his chest "—and my tummy feels all fluttery inside." In emphasis, his hand covered his middle.

Olivia thought about this and nodded. "Hmmm."

"I'm not sick, am I?" B.E.N. queried with worry.

"Of course, not, silly. What you have is a case of lovesickness. Nothing to worry about."

"So, I _am_ sick?"

"No! You're in _love_ with the girl!"

"I'm…in love?"

Is that what this feeling was called? Lovesickness? Martin did say B.E.N. had feelings for Luna5.

"But don't tell her that," Olivia continued. "She won't want to go out with you if you tell her right away."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Wait for the right time. By the way, who _is_ this girl?"

"Luna5."

"Oh! Oh! I know her! I know her!" Michael piped up.

"We _all_ know her," said Olivia. "How cool that you're in love with our mom's robot!"

B.E.N. felt bashful all over again and chuckled. But he had no idea Luna5 belonged to their mother. He always thought she belonged to their father, Martin.

"So, did you ask her out yet?" Olivia wanted to know.

"Me?" B.E.N. replied. "Well, um…no."

"Do it today," Olivia advised. "And don't forget flowers, but only on the night of your date. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am."

—

The hospice was located in the higher parts of town on the hill. The structure was small, but it was big enough to hold many patients. Luna5 was constantly needed, and in order to be there whenever she _was_ needed, she was given her own dorm of sorts. Basically, she lived at the hospice now.

B.E.N. was directed to the android's place and knocked on the door. "Come in," Luna5 called from behind the door. The robot opened the door and stepped inside.

"Uh, hello there, Luna5," B.E.N. greeted shyly. "I hope I'm not intruding."

Luna5 turned and saw B.E.N. at the door and beamed. "Oh, B.E.N.! Hello. No, you're not intruding. Come on in. Did you miss me already?"

"Well, heh-heh, I guess you could say that."

The room presented a unique theme. It was bright in here, with the walls painted white. The furniture arrangements were simple enough, like any dorm would appear. It had a bed, a dresser, a desk, and the open windows had semi-transparent white curtains, which drifted in the breeze. Outside was a beautiful hilltop view of the ocean.

"Wow. Is this where you live?" B.E.N. said, gazing around the room.

"Yes," Luna5 replied. "This used to be an operating room, but they built a new one and gave this one to me as my own."

"Wow. This is fantastic!"

"Thank you."

It was difficult, but B.E.N. finally gathered up the courage to say, "Say…um…Luna5…uhh…I-I was just wondering…would you…um…would you like to…well…uh-heh…" He gulped. Okay, so he was short a smidgen of courage.

"It's okay," Luna5 forgave him for his trouble. "Go on."

"Oh! Well…I was just wondering…" he said slowly, "…would you like to…" He gulped again. His knees trembled slightly and his heart pounded hard and his stomach twisted and turned painfully. "Would you like to…guh…_go out on a date with me?_" He gasped inwardly and exhaled for relief. Luna5 was taken aback by this unexpected, if not jittery, request. "I-I mean you don't have to if you want don't to! I do understand! Really! I mean…would you?"

"Well, I would, but…" Luna5 answered, "don't you think you're rushing it a little?"

"Am I? Well, I mean…"

"Of course, I would."

"Really? Whew. Good. I mean, _great!_"

"What time?"

"Oh, whatever's good for you. Heh-heh."

"How does tonight at 7 'o clock sound?"

"Fantastic!"

"Well, I've got something I need to take care of, but I will see you later." With the conversation over, Luna5 gave B.E.N. her enchanting smile again, pecked him with a kiss, and made her way down the hall, disappearing around the corner.

B.E.N. grinned big and sighed long and lovingly. That warm, fuzzy feeling returned to him. And his compass flipped around in its place, exposing the navigational system, the small, circular grid screen showing a thudding heart.

"I've got a date…" B.E.N. put a hand to his chest, gazing blissfully into a space. "…Hee…"

To be continued...

—

Jeez. I really wish I had posted this around Valentine's Day. At first, I thought of waiting until Valentine's came around again, but that would mean I'd have to wait around a whole other _year_ and that would take _way_ too long! So, I'll just post it now. Oh, and for the record, the mathematical question and answer that came up was not from me. I am terrible at math. I just thought of a random number and used a calculator for the answer.

Please tell me what you think! I _greatly_ appreciate it!


	3. Dinner Under the Star Lilies

Thank you so much for the review! And no, I am _not_ the type of person who quits on a story, especially if it's good. I know exactly where this one is going, as do I with The Purest of Heart, and I am fully committed to writing great these stories. The only things that really get in the way are _other_ unfinished stories and schoolwork. Both this one and the Purest of Heart should be finished sometime during the summer. Anyway… I had such a hard time coming up with the details for this chapter and how to write them! Aargh! o Any-hoo…this one should be cute and funny. Please send me a review! Enjoy!

**Chapter Three: Dinner Under the Star Lilies**

It was about 15 minutes to 7:00 pm, the time B.E.N. would be picking up Luna5. But B.E.N. wasn't quite ready yet. In fact, he was a bit anxious about the whole thing. He had planned to do something special for her. Actually, he was advised. Basically, the whole thing was planned _for_ him, since he was so new to dating. After all, this was his very first night on a date with a girl he had only just met today, on his first day of operation, and this night had to be perfect.

B.E.N. was standing in front of his full-view mirror in his room, checking himself over for any flaws or overlooked details that needed attending to. Olivia was there to help him out. He wore a blue tuxedo with a white flower and a bowtie, all of which had been made for him prior to his first day of life by Martin's wife, whom B.E.N. had not at all seen yet.

Anxious about his first night out, the emotional robot was beginning to panic, constantly worrying about the impression he was going to be making on Luna5. "How do I look? Is my tie on straight? Did I use enough buffing liquid on my metal?"

"Relax…relax…" replied Olivia. "Trust me…you're perfect. You're a regular babe magnet."

B.E.N. grinned, flattered. "Really? Uh…what's a babe magnet?"

"Never mind. Now, remember to smile when you see her," Olivia told him, giving him a list of tips. "Stand up straight, be proper and polite, and try not to be so…ya know, jumpy. Oh, and one thing you always wanna do for a girl is to sweet-talk her and she'll be all over you. But don't overdo it. And once you get to the restaurant, start with small talk. You know, talk with her. It's always good to do when you're having dinner."

"Right. Um…what's small talk?"

"You know! It's when you talk about the weather and stuff like that."

"Ah…um…okay. Gotcha! I think…"

"And don't forget to greet her with a nice 'Good evening.'" The young girl then handed B.E.N. a bouquet of exotic flowers and pushed him out to the front door. "And remember: no jitters. Now, go to that hospital and work your magic."

—

It wasn't long before B.E.N. arrived at the hospice, bouquet in hand. Approaching the door to Luna5's living quarters, the robot repeated to himself, "Don't panic, breathing in, breathing out." Truly anxious to no end, he swallowed down a gulp and slowly…very slowly…wincing and bracing himself for the worst, looking away from the door…knocked…three times.

He could feel the lovesickness coming on strong this time. His knees were weak and trembling, his heart was pounding hard and fast behind his chest, and his stomach was doing twists and summersaults inside. He could easily compare this feeling to the uncomfortable and frightening anticipation of waiting your turn to go on a flying roller coaster ride. But he had to remind himself not to panic and that everything would be just fine.

"Oh, what if she laughs at me? Come on, Benny-boy. Get it together now! You'll be fine! I mean what are you worried about? It's just one little date, right?"

"I'm coming," Luna5's voice called out. B.E.N. cried out with a start at the sound of her voice…that sweet…gentle…angelic voice that just made him want to smile and stare lovingly into space… "Yes?" Luna5 said, opening the door. "Oh, good evening, B.E.N."

"_Ah! Oh!_ Uh…good evening, Luna5," B.E.N. greeted hurriedly. He held out the bouquet of sunny flowers, shyly presenting them to the android. "Um…these are for you."

Luna5 beamed and happily accepted the bouquet from him. "Oh, _flowers!_ Oh, you shouldn't have. These are just lovely!" She took a sniff at the flower pedals. "Mmm…they _smell_ nice, too. I'll put these in some water." Setting the bouquet in a water-filled vase, she continued, "Thank you kindly, B.E.N. Very thoughtful of you."

"You…you _like_ them?"

"Of course, I do. How did you know I liked Proteus flixies?" (That would be the name of the flowers.)

"Oh, heh, lucky guess. Heh-heh. Uh…" The robot cleared his throat and became more of a gentleman. "My lady, your carriage awaits."

"We have a carriage, too? Oh, you're so sweet."

"I am? I mean—_sure_ I am! Sweet. That's me!"

In a minute, B.E.N. escorted Luna5 outside the hospice and up to a carriage that she seemed to recognize. The carriage itself was traditional and was floating in midair, as do all carriages. A large creature was attached to it, appearing to be responsible for pulling the carriage. The creature was a bit horse-like, somewhat amphibious, and stood on two legs, which were its only limbs. This particular creature, as B.E.N. was told, was called a bullyadous.

B.E.N. quickly stopped at the carriage's step, stood to the side to allow Luna5 passage onto the bullyadous-drawn vehicle. "Heh-heh…after you."

"Why thank you, B.E.N."

"Oh, it's…heh…really no big deal."

He then climbed into the carriage after her and the two sat side by side in the seat as the carriage pulled off, placidly traveling down the road. To be frank, B.E.N. had quite forgotten the words to tell Luna5 how much he liked her. Then his memory circuits retrieved a mental file of his, recalling that he had written it all down.

"Oh!" the robot exclaimed nervously. "I-I-I-I just re-remembered, uh, something."

Luna5 turned to him with a look of anticipation in her eyes. "Yes? What is it?"

"I, um…I…I wrote something for you!"

"You did?"

"Eh, y-yeah! I-it's-it's, um, it's…it's a poem!"

"_You_ wrote a _poem?_ Oh, how _wonderful!_" Luna5 was utterly joyful to hear this and smiled at B.E.N. "Let's hear it."

"Um…heh-heh…" B.E.N. cleared his throat and pulled out a little sheet of paper from the inside of his tux. The words were written in his own, neat, playful handwriting. He recited the poem in a dramatic and very passionate manner. "What soft, gracefulness presents thyself in my eager eye? She is playing with my heart, _teasing_ it to no end. And yet…I cannot _help_ myself! Her beautiful, moonlit face entices me like no other I have ever seen. Though I am only a day old, I would only ask for just one kiss. Just one kiss. That's all I ask! _Please?_ Just one, from her sparkling blue lips. My heart would never stop singing after that one kiss." Luna5 was almost speechless, but her face was beaming brightly. B.E.N. asked her apprehensively, "Well? Did ya like it?"

"No…I _loved_ it!" Luna5 replied with much glee. "Oh, B.E.N.! That was _beautiful!_"

"You…you think so?"

"Of course! I had no idea you were that creative…and…deep."

"Oh, well, heh-heh…"

At last, the carriage pulled to a halt in front of a high-class, swanky building, a restaurant of some kind. The double-door entrance had a lovely, artsy signage above the threshold. The sign had an image of a large, glowing, blue manta bird in flight. B.E.N. and Luna5 gazed upon it with awe, but Luna5 seemed to recognize it.

"The Blue Manta?" the android said, identifying the building by name.

"Wow. Isn't it lovely?" B.E.N. added.

"I've always wanted to come here, but I never had the time to get reservations."

"Really? Well, let's go in!"

The two stepped down from the carriage and approached the threshold of the restaurant. At the very entrance was a man with a large mustache under his nose and a clipboard in his hand. His demeanor was very stiff, as if he would accept only the wealthy to step inside. When he referred to B.E.N. and Luna5, the man spoke with a thick French accent.

"Your names, _monsieur_ and _madame_?"

"Uh…" said B.E.N., a little unsure of this, since it was very new to him. "B.E.N., Bio-Electronic Navigator…"

"And Luna5," Luna5 finished.

The man looked at them with a suspicious look in his eye. "Hmmm…name of creator?" he reached.

"Martin Trohs."

"Oh! _Oui!_ Professor Trohs! We all know of him!" the man replied excitedly. "Right zis way." And he led the two inside the blue-themed Old English eatery where a strings instrumental was playing peacefully in the background. In a minute, they were seated at a two-person table right outside, under the stars. The table was fixed with a silky, white cloth and a small, lit candle in the center. Glowing fixtures and decorations hung over the tables. "And, eh, what will be your pleasure zis fine evening?" he wanted to know.

"Could you give us a minute to look over the menu, sir?" Luna5 requested.

"_Oui, oui, madame_." And the man left them alone together at the table.

"Menu?" B.E.N. questioned. "What's a menu?"

"It's a list of the food concoctions they have here," Luna5 explained, picking up a menu. "You choose what you would like to have to eat and they prepare it and bring it to you."

"Wow. Really? Ooh! Lemme try!" He picked up the menu in front of him and began to look it over. He soon found something to his liking. "Ooh, the Tin Foil Pasta? That sounds appetizing."

Just then, the man returned to their table. "'Ave you decided?"

"Yes," answered Luna5. "We'll have a large bowl of the Tin Foil Pasta, for both of us to share."

"_Oui_. You're dinner will be out shortly."

The man then took their menus and walked towards the kitchen.

Then B.E.N. remembered what Olivia had told him. He was supposed to use small talk, near as he could figure. Talk about the weather and stuff like that. That was what she'd said to do. So, B.E.N. gave it a try, clearing his throat be fore speaking:

"So, uh…the, uh, weather's been nice…"

"Yes, it has," was Luna5's response.

"Uh, heh-heh, yeah, that sky, huh? Talk about _blue!_" Luna5 cocked an eyebrow at B.E.N. "I mean it probably couldn't be any bluer than that, could it?"

"Are you using small talk?"

"Uh…I, uh…sure! At least, I _think_ so. I mean I _should_ be. _Honestly_," he said, nervously rubbing the back of his neck, "this _really_ isn't easy for me. But ya think it'll rain?"

"I'm not sure," Luna5 chortled. "I supposed this is your first time using small talk?"

"Eh…yes…as a matter of fact." He grinned uneasily. This was extremely uncomfortable for him. He didn't feel much like using small talk anymore, but Olivia had advised him to do so if that's what he was supposed to do.

"You really don't need to use small talk," said Luna5, finally lifting the burden from B.E.N.'s shoulders. That made him feel much better.

In a mere 20 minutes, B.E.N. and Luna5's order was brought out to them. The entire dish consisted of softened tin foil in the form of a pile of noodles. The pile was doused with a thick petroleum sauce and topped with a bunch of small titanium spheres, like meatballs.

B.E.N. grinned at the dish. "Wow. So _that's_ the Tin Foil Pasta! Um…how do you _eat_ it?"

Luna5 demonstrated by picking up one of the noodles with her eating utensil. "You just take one noodle with your fork, bring the end of it to your mouth, and…"—she then slurped on the noodle, the entire thing disappearing into her mouth and down her throat—"…slurp it down."

"Oh! That looks like fun. Lemme try!" Eager, B.E.N. began to mimic what Luna5 had showed him and slurped on the tin noodle. But the sauce splattered in his face when he reached the end of it. He blinked with a start from the sudden splatter and chuckled bashfully. "Oops!"

Luna5 chortled. "That's okay. Try again."

He did. The sauce came to the point where it didn't splatter as much in his face, but almost every time he slurped on a noodle, he had to wipe his face with a napkin to clean of however much of the sauce _did_ splatter. "This is _delicious!_" the robot commented, satisfied.

He continued to slurp on the noodles with Luna5, eating the titanium spheres on the side. About half of the noodle pile was gone in some time. At one point, the two droids picked up a noodle at the same time and slurped on it as they had done all the others. The more they slurped, the closer they came together. It didn't occur to them that they had picked up the same noodle…until their lips touched.

There was a short pause as the two stared at one another and then…pulled away from one another.

Both B.E.N. and Luna5 felt sheepish about what had just happened. It was a total accident, a huge fluke. They hadn't meant to pick up the exact same noodle and slurp on it until their lips touched the way they did…and yet…strangely enough…they liked it. It was different from one of Luna5's little friendly pecks. They had merely been to show a small amount of affection.

Hoping to make up for the whole thing that had happened, B.E.N. bashfully pushed one of the titanium spheres with his fork over to Luna5's side of the bowl. "Oh, thank you, B.E.N.," Luna5 said to him with a smile. She popped the sphere into her mouth.

Some time went by. That time was spent with the two robots gazing out at the etherium sky, which was filled with dozens upon dozens of tiny, diamond-like stars. A pair of large, bright, white moons slowly crept their way above the horizon and into the view of those on the dark side of the planet that could see them. They were like giant, shining orbs that refracted the light of the sun, directing the light at the very earth.

"Gee, this sure is fun, isn't it?" said B.E.N. cheerfully. "You and me, together at this restaurant, sitting under the pretty stars? I just feel like _dancing!_"

"Well, you're in luck," said Luna5, pointing out. "People are getting up to dance."

"Oh!" With much enthusiasm, he rose from his chair, beginning to move to join the other dancers. "Come on, Luna5! Let's dance!" Turning to her, he stopped when he noticed that she wasn't joining him. "Uh…what's the matter? This is gonna be _fun!_"

"I know," Luna5 replied, looking down as she sat there in her chair. "But the thing is…I've never danced a day in my life, granted I was first brought to life five months ago."

B.E.N. laughed gently. "Aw, is that all?" He then bent towards the android held out a hand.

"And you need to properly ask me first." She smirked playfully.

"Uh…right. Eh, what am I supposed to say again?"

"You say my name and then say, 'Would you care for a dance?'"

"Ohhh! Right! Um…Luna5, would you care for a dance?"

"Why, I would love to."

Luna5 put her own hand into B.E.N.'s and allowed him to gracefully direct her into the crowd of dancers. The music changed from a slow, peaceful melody to more of an upbeat tune, something everyone could dance to. (Imagine something similar to that of the party music near the end of the movie.) The whole crowd had really gotten into it, creating a synchronized dancing pattern with one another and clapping in rhythm to the music.

In a short moment, it seemed as though B.E.N.'s feet had minds of their own; he was dancing for the first time, but he was doing it very well, like he'd been doing it all his life. Both he and Luna5 were quite surprised to see this. "I had no _idea_ I was this _good!_"

"I suppose dancing is one of your many given talents," said Luna5.

"Look at you! You're not doing so bad yourself!"

B.E.N. and Luna5, as it turned out, were the most lively dance couple in the entire crowd. In response to this, the crowd moved to create an open circle, watching them with delight and enjoyment at their performance, particularly B.E.N.'s.

"They like the way you dance," Luna5 explained. "That's why they gave us room like this."

"Really?"

It was as though the music had the desire to test B.E.N.'s skills because it suddenly grew a little bit faster. But B.E.N. went along with it. He was enjoying this so much; he was beginning to create his own style, spinning, twirling, and moving his arms and body in a small wave. In the midst of this, the manager of the restaurant happened to be hearing the cheering of the crowd and decided to investigate. Pushing through the crowd, the manager happened upon the dancing B.E.N. At the same moment, a waiter with a huge cake on a platter was walking by. B.E.N. became so into it that he soon became unaware of his surroundings. He ended his impressive jig with a disco move known as "pointing to the stars." And unfortunately, his hand ended up smacking the platter, which in turn, caused the cake to splatter into the manager's face.

At this, everything froze.

The crowd, the music, _everything_. Everyone stopped at stared.

B.E.N. glance about in utter puzzlement. "Uh…what went on? Wh-what's the matter with—" He stopped in his turn when he met the sight of the manger, who was now drenched in the formerly beautiful cake. The waiter with the platter was now glaring at him. "Oh. Um…hi there."

"Zat is it!" the waiter growled angrily, upset that he had just made a mess of both the manager and the cake. "I quit!" And the man stormed off. The crowd parted, allowing the waiter to make his leave.

"Huh? Wh-what did I do?"

"You! Robot!" splutter the manager in a French accent from behind his face full of cake as he wiped away what remained of it. "You 'ave just cost me my best chef!"

"Me?" B.E.N. pointed to himself in question.

"And you!" The manager pointed at Luna5. "You 'elped out!"

"But it was an accident," Luna5 added in, on the defensive.

"That's right!" B.E.N. agreed, though he was still confused as to what had happened. "What she said."

However, the manager was unconvinced. In an instant, he took B.E.N. by the neck and middle and tossed the poor robot out through the main entrance of the building. Luna5 soon followed, landing on top of B.E.N. in the dirty street.

"And _stay out!_" the manager snarled, enraged, slamming the doors to the entrance and leaving the two lying on the street.

Luna5 realized that she was on top of B.E.N. Knowing she outweighed him, she was quick to get to her feet and help him up while he groaned. "Sorry. Are you all right, B.E.N.?"

"Who? Me? Well, uh, I've felt better."

"I'm sorry. I never told you that the manager had a bad temper."

"You? Oh, that's okay. But I think it was kinda my fault that we got thrown out …I think."

"I see. You're thinking that because you were treating me to this fancy restaurant you were the one at fault. I suppose you were a little," she admitted, "but we both know that it was all a freak accident."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But something's telling me I should make it up to you. I know!" B.E.N. was hit by an idea. "Do you wanna go anywhere special?"

"Well, it's really not necessary, but I suppose we could go down to the beach."

"The beach? You mean where that huge puddle of water is?"

"Yes. You mean the _ocean_."

With that, B.E.N. and Luna5 strolled down the rough street of town. Up ahead was the view of the ocean, shimmering with the reflection of the two moons as they were rising up from behind the horizon. It was one of the most peaceful sights B.E.N. had ever laid eyes on. In a few short minutes, the two arrived at the small sandy shore where waves of salty water lapped up to lick the boarder between land and sea. B.E.N. could feel the gentle ocean spray in his face. The smell of the salt was at its strongest here. Manta birds had come to play, cawing out to one another in song.

"I like to come out here as often as I can," said Luna5 distantly, "to dip my feet in the water."

B.E.N. blinked. "Really? How come?"

"Because it makes me feel completely at peace." She slowly approached the water's edge and allowed the water to lap and splash small surfs at her feet. She exhaled, "Ahh…there's just something about the ocean that brings you closer to nature and makes you think about things, you know?"

"Yeah…heh..." B.E.N. couldn't help smiling, gazing longingly at Luna5 as she twirled her long dress, presenting much of her true beauty. "That's deep…_real_ deep."

"Isn't it?" She turned back to him. "Here, you try it."

"Okay." Eagerly, he joined her just as the water inhaled and pulled away from land for a moment's time. The tiny waves came rushing back and the water splashed at his feet. But it sent a stingingly chilling sensation all up his legs and left him shivering. It was a feeling he'd never known before. "Ooo_wow!_ I-i-i-i-i-i-it's f-f-_freezing!_"

"It's supposed to be. Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

"Whoo!" And he immediately high-tailed it out of the water. "Uh, maybe later."

"Oh, there's something I want you to see."

Luna5 grabbed B.E.N. by the arm and pulled him over to the stone wall where the town began. Some sort of plant growth was up against the wall. It was a shrub full of flowers. They were slightly different than the Proteus flixies he had given her at the start of their date. These flowers were the color of fire, red, orange, and yellow and they seemed to be closed up in buds.

"These are fire lilies," Luna5 explained. "These only bloom during the day when they can soak up the sun's energy. And they _resemble_ the sun when they're in full bloom."

"Wow. They look _beautiful!_ Even though they're closed up."

"This species has a life cycle of up to five years."

"Five years?"

"Yes. They are the only flowers that live for that long. And they won't die, not matter what, even if they're picked, not until they've reached the end of their cycle. But when they _do_ reach it, that's the time when they send out their seedy pollen to plant new fire lilies. So, these particular flowers are pretty much the rarest of all. They're so rare, in fact, that people are willing to make money off of them, which is why the people of this planet are preserving them here. Now, there's something else I want you to see. This is the main reason why I like to come here at night."

She then took B.E.N. to the opposite side of the beach. On this side was the exact same thing. However, it wasn't fire lilies they were now looking at. These flowers were completely white in color and had five open pedals in the shape of stars.

"Well, would you _look_ at _these!_" he exclaimed with a grin.

"These are called star lilies. They are exactly like fire lilies, except that star lilies only bloom during the night and fire lilies have twice as many pedals."

"Wow…how _gorgeous!_ I can kinda see where they get the name 'star lily.'"

"Yes. These are my absolute favorite flowers. So gentle and soft…and when the light of the twin moons hits them just right…"—suddenly, the pedals of the star lilies gave off a timid, white glow as if refracting the light—"…they shine like the moons themselves."

"Awww," B.E.N. cooed, utterly moved by all of this. "That's so beautiful." Just then, he felt something in his eye and realized that it was a tear. Appropriately, the tear was thin and oily, but it still possessed the emotion he was feeling right now. Then, he was hit by another idea. "Hey, I know!" He picked one of the star lilies and he and Luna5 faced each other. "I bet you'd look _great_ with this!" And he fixed the flower into her blue hair, on her right side. "Ahh, beautiful."

Luna5 gave a shy expression while she smiled gratefully. "Thank you, B.E.N.," she said, flipping a bit of her hair.

A little later, B.E.N. dropped off Luna5 at her room in the hospice. Before closing the door, she turned to him one last time, saying, "Thank you again, B.E.N. I had a wonderful time."

"Really? Me, too."

"Would you like to do this again?"

"Oh, _would I ever!_"

"Shh! Try to keep it down."

"Oh! Uh, sorry. Sorry." He lowered his voice. "Um…how does _next_ week sound?"

"Sounds fun. Well, we'd better turn in for the night, you know, get some sleep. I'll see you again next week."

"Gotcha."

"Good night, B.E.N." And Luna5 came up and planted a long, passionate kiss on B.E.N.'s metal cheek, closing the door behind her.

B.E.N. was left with a huge, smiling grin on his face and a pair of pink hearts in his eyes, tingling all over, literally feeling light and fluttery inside. "Ahh…Luna5…what an _angel_…" he sighed long and lovingly, rubbing the place on his cheek where Luna5 had left her blue lipstick marks. Overcome with the lovesickness again, he felt that it was stronger than ever before. It overpowered him greatly, and he collapsed with a clatter of his limbs, passed out on the floor.

—

Three weeks had gone by, and B.E.N. and Luna5 began seeing a little more of each other. On their second date, they went to a better restaurant than the Blue Manta. And on their third date, they went to see a live, theatrical performance.

But not once did he openly proclaim his love to the android. It just wasn't the right time yet, as he'd been told. Of course, knowing this did not interfere with his time with her.

The night of their third date ended wonderfully. B.E.N. came through the front doors of his home with a big smile on his face, twirling and dancing, Luna5 running through his love struck mind. Martin Trohs took note of this.

"I take it your date went well?" he asked.

"Ohhh, what a day it has been, what a rare mood I'm in," B.E.N. was singing to himself, all the while dancing through the foyer, "Why, it's almost like bein' in love…"

"I'll take that as a yes."

It was during those three weeks that B.E.N. learned so much about the world and the people in it. He still had a lot to learn about the universe, but he knew enough already, having to ask fewer questions the more he learned. Unfortunately, he was about to learn a life lesson that everyone naturally would resent: life is never really fair, especially when you're engaged in strict business.

Smithers McDermin-Hagen made that lesson perfectly clear tonight after B.E.N. had arrived home. "Mr. Navigator," he addressed toward the robot with a serious tone, snapping B.E.N. to his senses. B.E.N. stopped short in mid-step. "I hate to interrupt your lovely dance routine, but I have come here strictly on business."

B.E.N. straightened himself. "Oh, hi there, Smithy. Um…when you say you've come here strictly on business, what do you mean by that…exactly…uh, sir?" he wanted to know.

"It's a serious thing," Martin explained.

McDermin-Hagen continued. "Since coming to observe your presentation three weeks ago, I have discussed with the Board of Interplanetary Trade about appointing you as official navigator of the Interplanetary Trading Company. And the board has come to a decision…" A pause…as McDermin-Hagen prepared to give the news. "Mr. Bio-Electronic Navigator…the Board of Interplanetary Trade has appointed you as official navigator for the Interplanetary Trading Company."

"It's been decided as of two weeks ago," said Martin truthfully. "We didn't want to tell you right away since you were still being introduced to new things."

"Oh," replied B.E.N., somewhat puzzled.

"This will give you the opportunity to see even more than just this one planet. You'll be able to learn so much more, seeing the entire universal empire."

The robot smiled at the thought of that. "Really? Oh, that's _fantastic!_ Luna5 go, too? Can she? Huh? Can she? Oh, how _wonderful_ would that be! We get to see the entire universal empire—!"

"Uh, B.E.N.…there's something else." Martin was sounding a bit more serious.

"Huh?"

"Mr. Navigator," said McDermin-Hagen, "I'm afraid you're little girlfriend cannot join you."

"Why not?"

"Only those _official_ crew members may ride the merchant ships. And seeing as Luna5 has duties of her own here, on the planet Solietune, her company is just simply out of the question."

B.E.N. was struck painfully in the chest by this information, and his smile vanished. "But…but, eh…that's…that's not…th-that's not _fair_."

"I'm sorry, B.E.N. But we promise that you and Luna5 will still have the chance to see one another from time to time."

The smile returned and B.E.N. was able to relax. "Oh, good. I've never really _navigated_ before. It might be fun."

"That's the spirit."

—

Another week went by.

B.E.N. packed his bags and was soon on his way. He made fast friends with the crew of the merchant ship called the _S.S. Venture_. She was a magnificent galleon, able to carry hundreds of tons of goods without being strained from all the weight. So far, she had been to and from almost every planet in the galaxy with little maintenance. Her captain was a female felinid named Starling, whose first mate was a tall, bulky alien named Nebula. The lookout was referred to as Mr. Crow because he spent so much time in the crow's nest.

As the _S.S. Venture_ flew out from the shrinking spaceport that neighbored Solietune, B.E.N. could barely make out a tiny, blue-haired figure he immediately recognized. He was already missing Luna5…terribly. And he was sure that she was missing him.

The journey would be long and hard, but B.E.N. was confident that they would see each other again…and that he would find his way back home.

To be continued…

—

You have no idea what I went through to find the perfect concept for this chapter…It took me so long to come up with…But…I had fun… By the way, the name of B.E.N.'s home planet, Solietune, comes from the French words _soliel_ _et lune_, which literally means "sun and moon", to show the close relationship between B.E.N. and Luna5. I think B.E.N. is like the sun and Luna5 is like the moon. Like yin and yang, they go hand in hand.

So? What do you think? I _hugely_ appreciate the reviews! Thanks!


	4. The Android At the Ball

Here's where the android named Lupe comes in. See if you can guess her secret. If you can't, that's okay.

**Chapter Four: The Android At the Ball**

It wasn't long after B.E.N. was appointed to the large merchant ship known as the _S.S. Venture_. But it wasn't the only ship he was working for. Over the past many months, he was transferred from ship to ship. Apparently, he was so good at navigating; a great deal of captains wanted him as their navigator. When Martin had said B.E.N. would see the entire universal empire, he really meant it. B.E.N. traveled on many different ships to many different planets and galaxies such as Proteus One, Pelsinor, and the Lagoon Nebula. Though he was being transferred many times, the _S.S. Venture_ seemed to be the one ship B.E.N. would always return to. And all of this took place within 10 whole years, his first 10 years as official navigator.

Every single day, B.E.N. wrote Luna5 a letter, telling her what had been going on and how much he missed her and wanted to see her again. Of course, Luna5 tried to write him back, but because he was traveling so much the letters weren't able to reach him. B.E.N. was aware of this fact, so he continued to write her, despite that during those 10 years he was unable to see Luna5 at all.

One night, Smithers McDermin-Hagen planned on throwing a party in honor of the _S.S. Venture's_ 1st full trip across the etherium. Many entrepreneurs and McDermin-Hagen's closest friends were attending the celebration, which would be taking place in the ship's vast and high-class ballroom. About a hundred tables were placed in the ballroom alone, along with golden decorations all around, including a wonderful view of the stars out the room's tall and open windows. McDermin-Hagen even invited the ship's crew to attend. And that included the ship's trusty navigator, B.E.N., who readily and happily accepted the invitation.

But B.E.N.'s only problem was that Luna5 couldn't be here to enjoy the party with him. Well, he figured it would give him the opportunity to get to know the entrepreneurs. He also figured that if he got a good look at the party he would be able to tell Luna5 all about it if he ever saw her again. Unfortunately, being a navigator, he was obligated to travel quite a bit, but McDermin-Hagen, Martin, and Captain Starling of the _S.S. Venture_ had promised him that he would get to see Luna5 once again. However, that didn't mean he could stay with her, so the next time he _could_ see her, he would make the most of his time with her.

Tonight was the night of the celebration and everyone who had been invited attended. In his own personal quarters, B.E.N. pulled out his blue tuxedo and bow tie, stood in front of his full-view mirror, and slipped on the tux and bow tie, smiling. "This is gonna be fantastic!" he exclaimed excitedly. "I just can't wait to tell Luna5 about this!" In less than a minute, he was ready.

The party began at 6:00pm. B.E.N. stared in awe as he wandered a little bit around the enormous, decorated ballroom. The 80-foot height of the ceiling where the huge crystal chandeliers hung made him dizzy with wonder. The sight of the entire room rendered him almost speechless. "Wow. This is…unforgettable…" B.E.N. smiled, utterly astounded. "Wait tell I tell Luna5 about _this_."

A large strings group played in the background as the party went on in the ballroom. The view of the etherium couldn't be more beautiful tonight. Fine wine was served to the guests. Being a robot, B.E.N. was served pure, black petroleum, just the way he liked it: shaken, not stirred. Throughout most of the evening, he chatted with the guests and the crew, snacked on metal-made hors d'euvres, and enjoyed the musical pieces of the strings group. But as the night wore on, more than ever he was beginning to really miss Luna5. It was somewhat depressing. Soon enough, the guests were dancing on the ballroom floor, and B.E.N. without a dance partner.

Just then, B.E.N.'s night became brighter because someone approached him with shy timidity. "Excuse me," said a sweet, gentle voice. Looking behind him, he came face to face with an android, but it wasn't Luna5. This android certainly was female, and she had a silver face, wore a long, red dress, and her black hair was tied up in a bun on her head. Her eyes were a solid white. "Good evening, sir," the android greeted B.E.N. apprehensively with a gentle smile.

B.E.N. smiled back, the collar flaps of his tux involuntarily fluttering like little bird wings as they reflected his zeal. "Uh…hi, there," he chuckled nervously. He had to keep in mind that Luna5 was the love of his life, but for some strange reason he was falling for this girl as well. She boasted a familiar air about her, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Everyone's dancing," said the android, "but I don't have anyone to dance with."

"Wow! Me neither!" B.E.N. exclaimed. But he toned it down a bit. "I-I mean…um…" The female android giggled. "What's you're name, Miss?"

"Oh, my name is…Lupe."

"Lupe? That's a pretty name."

"Thank you."

"I'm B.E.N." He enthusiastically held out a hand for her to shake. "Bio-Electronic Navigator. I…uh, I navigate this here ship."

Shaking his hand, Lupe said, "Do you? I bet you must be pretty important, to know where to go and when and how to get there."

"Oh, yeah! We navigators are _really_ important." He began to over exaggerate somewhat in an involuntary attempt to impress Lupe. "I mean we're kinda in charge of everything that goes on! Leading the crew on the adventures through outer space, exploring new and exciting places like the Lagoon Nebula, Proteus One, the Planet Pelsinor…" Then, he noticed that Lupe was chortling from amusement and she could clearly see his exaggeration. "Okay," he admitted, "so maybe the captain helps out a little, too." He also knew now the exaggeration he was creating and made it sound like a stand-up comedy joke.

"I like your sense of humor," Lupe commented.

"Ya do? Really? Oh, good. I almost thought I was boring you to tears."

"Oh, no, of course not."

"You know," B.E.N. said, putting one hand to his hip and the other on his head, scratching the top of it in thought, "you remind me of someone I happen know, someone very beautiful, someone I am _extremely_ close to."

"I do? Who is it?"

"Um…oh! I know! You look just like Luna5!"

Lupe seemed almost stunned. "Do I?"

"Yeah! But you couldn't be her, could you?"

"Well, no. I've never even met this Luna5 person before."

"I got it! You're her sister!"

"Yes! Yes, I'm her sister. You figured it out."

"How come she never talked about you?"

"Oh, it must've slipped her mind."

"Yeah." B.E.N. chuckled.

An awkward silence fell between the two.

"Well," said Lupe, "there's still time for one more dance."

"Oh, yeah!" B.E.N. remembered. "Uh…" In a second, he turned himself into a professional gentleman, took a bow as he gestured towards the dance floor with a smile, and inquired in a formal and polite manner, "My lady, may I have this dance?"

"Why, yes, you may," Lupe replied daintily, taking the robot's hand, and the two of them walked out onto the dance floor.

For the whole song that was being played, B.E.N. and Lupe passionately danced with one another. A couple of times, B.E.N. stumbled, but Lupe didn't mind. She just laughed as he did. Soon, the time for dancing was over. So, the two used the time they had left to go out on deck and gaze at the beautiful blue and violet etherium.

"What a peaceful night it is," Lupe mused.

"Yeah," B.E.N. agreed. "Oh, Luna5 would sure love this, wouldn't you think so?

"Yes, she would. That reminds me." Lupe's voice turned serious.

"Huh?" He turned to her.

"I have something I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Well…just that…"—she hesitated—"…I hope you get to see Luna5 again soon. I—er, _she's_ been missing you so much since you left. And…she never really has time to write to you, but she loves all the hundreds of letters you've been sending her. She wants you to keep on writing to her and letting her know what's going on with your travels."

"Awww, isn't that sweet of her. So, she knows I've been writing to her every single day?"

"Of course, she does." She then remembered something and quickly said, "Well, I have to go. I'm feeling a little sleepy."

"Yeah, me, too," B.E.N. yawned. "It _is_ getting kinda late anyway."

"Good night, B.E.N." Lupe made haste back inside.

"Wait!" B.E.N. stopped her. "What's the rush?"

"I have to hurry to bed, or I'm up all night."

"Ya know, that's a good idea. Luna5 would probably be _mad_ at me if she knew I had been dancing with you."

"Why would she be mad?"

"Well, I have to confess. And I can do it in just five words: _I'm in love with Luna5!_" B.E.N. burst out loud with great spontaneity.

Lupe was taken aback, but she suppressed the urge to withdraw. "You are?"

"Oh, yes! I'm in _love!_ Hooked! Infatuated! Besotted! Obssessed! Enamored! Smitten! Captivated! Charmed! Head-over-heels! However you wanna _slice_ it! Luna5 is the love of my life! My one and only! The girl of my dreams! I've loved her since I the day I first met her! Which, by the way, happens to be the day I first woke up when I was made."

"…Really?"

"Yeah! I'm _even_ thinking of _proposing_ to her! When I get home, that is."

Lupe gasped. "You…you are?"

"Oh, please! Don't tell her I said any of that!" he begged.

"You want to tell her yourself?" Lupe smiled knowingly.

"Uh-huh." B.E.N. nodded vigorously.

"Okay, I won't tell her. Promise."

"Aw, thanks. You're a real pal."

"No problem." Continuing back inside, she said, "Good night, B.E.N."

"Good night, Lupe. Be seein' ya again!"

"No. You won't."

"Huh?" What did she mean?

"But you _will_ be seeing Luna5 again. Soon."

"I will?" B.E.N.'s heart suddenly felt warm and light with hope.

"Yes. I guarantee it."

With that, Lupe made her way back inside. But in a split second, she came right back and pecked a friendly kiss on B.E.N.'s cheek before leaving for good. B.E.N. grinned and sighed affectionately, feeling that familiarity again.

Lupe was right when she said B.E.N. would never see her again. He would never see _Lupe_ again, but he would Luna5.

To be continued…

—

So? Could you guess? If not, oh, well. Reviews are most appreciated. Please review!


	5. Stolen

Most of this chapter is kinda sad because at one point B.E.N. loses a bit of his precious memory. And I'm not talking about his losing his primary memory circuit. Not yet. Anyway, you'll see the kind of fear that is portrayed through his eyes, as with the rest of the story, and you should understand what he had to go through.

**Chapter Five: Stolen**

That same night, B.E.N. had a dream about Lupe. For some strange reason, he was seeing Lupe take off her hair as if it were a wig, revealing long, flowing, blue hair. Her solid white eyes changed color. The white shrunk into a pair of moonlit pupils with blue behind them. Her silver skin faded into a light blue color. She was changing into Luna5! But did that mean that Lupe wasn't who she said she was? B.E.N. wasn't allowed the chance to find out for sure; he was given a rude awakening the very next morning.

"All hands on deck!" a deep voice shouted. It was First Mate Nebula.

In minutes, B.E.N., moving frantically, was out on deck with the rest of the crew, wanting to know what was going on and what might be wrong.

"Mr. Crow! What do you see?" Captain Starling demanded of the lookout.

"Captain!" the lookout hollered in sheer terror from the crow's nest. "A pirate ship! It is black with red sails!"

"A pirate ship?" Starling questioned. "In _this_ part of the galaxy?"

"Pirate ship?" B.E.N. repeated, rendered completely petrified.

"It's the _Kraken_! The ship of Captain Nathaniel Flint!" the lookout cried in horror. "He is gaining! And he's hot on our tail!"

"Oh, no! Captain Flint? The meanest, scariest pirate there ever was?" B.E.N. panicked. "_Run, people! Run for you're lives!_"

Almost immediately, panic and mayhem ensued throughout the whole of the _S.S. Venture_. Captain Starling jumped in and called for order. "Evasive action, gents!" she commanded. The crew hurriedly obeyed, but the members remained panicky. Turning to B.E.N., she told him, "B.E.N.! You have to hide yourself somewhere! I can't afford to lose you!"

"Uh, aye, captain!"

Frightened, B.E.N. dashed off to find a safe place to hide while the captain and her first mate stood to fight off the pirates. He stumbled as he went due to a fiery explosion that violently rocked the galleon. Flint's ship, the _Kraken_, had begun firing her laser balls upon the hull, deck, and sails of the _S.S. Venture_, ripping her to shreds. Various things were setting on fire, creating utter panic and confusion. B.E.N. stopped for a short moment in time to watch in horror as the _Kraken_ approached the _S.S. Venture_ and the _Kraken_ gripped onto the bow with her vicious mechanical claws. Seeing the huge crew of Captain Flint grouped together on the deck of the _Kraken_, B.E.N. kept on running, panting as he went.

His heart pounded behind his chest the entire time of this pandemonium that was ensuing all over the ship. At last, he came to a door with a lock on it. For some odd reason it had been unlocked, but it was as good a place as any. B.E.N. hurriedly rushed inside, closed the door behind him, and locked it. "Whew!" The room was pitch-black. "Well, at least…it's safe," he panted to himself. He activated his flashlight feature and his eyes lit up in the room, emitting a pleasant, blue glow. Looking around, a golden glint reflected off of something and glared in his face. Squinting, he realized what it was. "Uh-oh. Not good. _Definitely _not good."

Just then, a loud metallic shatter from outside startled B.E.N. to pieces, causing him to jump and give a short scream. Turning sharply to the door, he thought he felt his heart stop. A bulky, six-eyed alien, whose head resembled that of a monstrous reptile, stood like a mountain before the terrified B.E.N. The alien was none other than Captain Nathaniel Flint himself! The sight of the pirate was so intimidating that B.E.N. couldn't scream, even while he tried. "Ca-Ca-Ca…" He could barely even speak.

"Out of my way, pathetic sack of metal," Flint snarled, grabbing the poor robot by his thin neck and throwing him off to the farthest side of the room. Other pirates stood ready behind Flint, who broke the locks on the chests, finding piles of precious loot inside. Laughing, he began to hand the chests to the other pirates. The loot would be carried and stored onto their ship.

B.E.N. attempted to sneak away from the greedy monster that was Captain Flint. However, the pirate captain noticed him trying to escape and pointed at the robot, stopping him in his tracks. "You! Robot! You will remain here! Not that you have a choice." Flint's voice was a deep growl, like a dangerous creature. He was just about to leave when he halted. He looked B.E.N. over with an intriguing grin. "Hmm. Actually, you'd make the perfect navigator for me."

"Huh? Me? A navigator?" He tried to lie to Flint. "Heh, maybe you're thinking of someone else. I don't see any navigators around _here_. I mean, if you're looking for a navigator, he'd have to have binoculars for eyes and a compass and a navigational system." Captain Flint wasn't the least bit fooled. He just stood there, grinning his toothy grin. "Oh, wait. I guess _I_…have…all…those…things. Heh."

"Nice try, metal mouth. You're coming with me."

"Huh? No! Wait! Can't we talk about this?" But Flint promptly picked B.E.N. up and lifted him over his massive left shoulder, carrying him out of the room and onto the deck, with a chest full of gold and jewels under his right arm. The entire scene was in fiery ruins. Innocent people were either captured, running for their lives, or fighting back and failing. B.E.N. was completely devastated by the horrible sight.

Just then, a familiar face showed itself in the midst of the chaos. Blue hair, beautiful face, moonlit eyes…was it…? "Luna5? Luna5, is that you?" B.E.N. called out loud enough for her to hear.

"B.E.N.?" Luna5 called back. She seemed to notice his predicament. "Oh, no. Wait! B.E.N.! No! Bring him back! _B.E.N.!_" she screamed, but she disappeared.

"Luna5!" B.E.N. wailed helplessly. "Hey, somebody help! Help me! I'm being _stolen_ here! _Help! Heeeeelllllllp!_" But no one could.

Captain Flint leapt onto his ship, carried B.E.N. to a metal grating in the floor, opened it, and dropped the robot down inside. B.E.N. landed hard on his head. In the dark brig, he stood on his feet, dazed, seeing stars swirling about his head. "Ooogh…where'd we park the boat? Oh, look at the pretty stars tonight…" He moaned, tumbled to the floor, and passed out, unconsciousness.

That night, an important piece of B.E.N.'s precious memory was erased from his mind.

To be continued…

—

So? So? Soooooo? What do you think? Please tell me what you think! The story is just getting good, so tell me! Don't you want to know what's going to happen next? I said this before and I'll say it again. Reviews are most appreciated! And please ask me about the piece of memory that B.E.N. lost! Or even about Luna5? Please?


	6. Servitude

Oh, my gosh! MidnightMoon14! Thank you SO much for your review! You have inspired me to continue writing! Not that I planned on stopping. I've been working hard on other ideas that just keep popping into my head, and I had just recently become an official college student, which I am very excited about.

Anyway, this part of the story explains the depth of what B.E.N. had to go through, to stay on Captain Flint's good side just to keep himself alive. Well, there were only two benefits that come out of all of this. One is where he makes a new friend…sort of. The other benefit is where he explores more of the unseen universe. Unfortunately, Captain Flint is always there to make it all fall to pieces. (_Curse you, Flint! I'm glad you're dead!_) Enjoy! And tell me what you think.

**Chapter Six: Servitude**

The _Kraken_ rested in the sheltering atmosphere of a gorgeous planet and the sun was already on the eastern hemisphere. Light peeked through the grating of the brig where B.E.N. had been lying unconscious. Now he was sleeping. His dreams were jumbled and confused.

Startled, he snapped to with his eyes wide open. "Ah! Who—? What—? When—? Where—?" He finally got a good look at his surroundings. The room he was now sitting in appeared to be some sort of brig. But it wasn't like any other brig he might have seen. This one was darker than usual. The sight of it scared him. "W-where am I? What happened yesterday?" He scratched the top of his head blankly. "Did I conk out or something?"

Suddenly, a pounding pain in the back of his head bellowed out at him. "Ooh! Ah! Ouch!" He felt around the back of his head and found a small recess right on his primary memory circuit. "Hey, how'd _that_ get there?" He quickly figured out a way to get rid of the dent while preventing the ruin of the rest of the circuits in his head. Wincing, B.E.N. reluctantly hit the side of his head with his hand…_hard_. None of his other circuits were damaged as the dent popped up and the back of his head was smooth again. "Whew. Better." And yet he couldn't help thinking he'd forgotten something very important to him. But he wasn't given the time to think about it.

Just then, there was a loud banging from above. Giving a cry of alarm, B.E.N. shot his attention straight up to see the brig door open up and a familiar pirate stick his head down inside. The pirate appeared spiderlike, like a sort of cousin to the arachnian alien species. B.E.N. remembered seeing him some time before, but he couldn't remember where. When the spider spoke, he sounded as threatening as he looked, like a deadly insect. "The cap'n wants to see ya," the pirate sneered, reaching down with one of his long arms and grabbing B.E.N. by the middle, pulling him up and out.

Surrounding the whimpering, frightened robot was Captain Flint's entire crew of cutthroats—repulsive, fearsome, and…well, pretty darn smelly, especially their foul breath. More over, they scared him, almost as though they were ready to devour him alive at any given moment. He could feel his heart beating hard against his chest, about 150 times a minute, give or take.

"Top o' the mornin,' puny robot," growled a familiar voice. B.E.N. shuddered with a squeak and turned on his heel to see a huge, hulking figure to which the voice belonged. Tall, dark, and hideous, Captain Flint stood there, casting a long, ominous shadow over B.E.N., who was less than half of Flint's size. The sight of Flint brought back the terrible memory of the burning ship from the day before. The memory was somewhat sketchy, but who could forget a face like that of Captain Flint?

"Welcome to my ship, the _Kraken_," Flint greeted with a toothy grin. B.E.N. could see one gold denture in that dangerous mouth of his. "Come with me, robot. I'd like to speak with you in private, if you don't mind." Flint began to saunter away, but turned back around to find that B.E.N. had not moved from his spot. "Well? Hop to it!"

"Ah! Y-yes, sir, Captain Flint, sir!" B.E.N. replied, hurriedly following Flint to his quarters. B.E.N. figured that if he obeyed any order he was given, his life would be spared.

The door to Flint's quarters closed behind B.E.N. as he followed Flint inside. He could see the horrible disarray of the room. It was almost too repulsive to even look at, let alone describe. Unfortunately, he was here now, no way to escape. He knew where he was, and even if he tried to escape there'd be no telling what would become of him. He was still fearful of what Flint might do to him, but the pirate captain said he wanted to speak with him, so that was a plus.

Flint took his seat behind a desk in a golden throne that he had apparently stolen some time in the recent past. The mischievous expression on the six-eyed alien never faltered as he kept his gaze right on B.E.N., who was still quaking at the knees. "State your name, robot," Flint said in a gentlemanly fashion.

"Uh-um…uh, B.E.N.," the robot replied shakily. "Bio-Electronic Navigator. Y-y-you're not gonna hurt me, are ya?"

"Oh, now why in the world would I do a thing like that?" Flint said coolly. "You're much too valuable to be disposed of. Why do you think I took you? I am appointing you as my personal navigator."

Hearing those words, B.E.N. was finally able to relax, and he exhaled in relief. "Whew! At least I get to _keep_ my life."

Then, Captain Flint rose from his ill-gotten throne and walked over to the robot, his demeanor turning serious, as if he meant business. "Just know that that means that you will be more than merely navigating. You will be doing whatever I order you to do. You will taste my food before I eat it so that I am not the victim of any poisons, guard the door to my bathing room so that I am not disturbed, and sleep in the cabin with me. Think you can handle that?"

"Well, sure, but I—"

"And I will hear no complaints out of you." Flint jabbed a taloned finger at B.E.N.'s chest and B.E.N. grunted from the forceful gesture. "No wining, no fussing, no 'ifs,' 'ands,' or 'buts.' Else I shall throw you in the brig again and won't release you for however long I decide. And you must always address me as Captain or sir. Do I make myself clear?"

"Uh, yes, sir!" B.E.N. stood erect and saluted in affirmation.

"Good. I ask of you the completion of these tasks simply because you are a machine and no one else will do them."

"Oh. That's…perfectly understandable." But B.E.N. wasn't so sure.

"And in return, I will do something for you. Being the machine you are, you would obviously require a tune-up every now and then, correct?"

"Uh, yes, sir."

"Let me guess. You'll be needing me to buff your metal and recharge your eye sockets once a month, correct?"

"Y-yes, sir."

"Very well then. That will be all. Unless there is anything else you require?"

"Uh…no, sir!" B.E.N. shook his head. "Nope. Heh-heh. I'm good. Peachy. Fine and dandy." But his stomach objected with ravenous hunger, rumbling in a loud, metallic gurgle. He was feeling hungrier than he'd ever felt in his entire life.

Captain Flint had heard the grotesque noise, and he laughed.

"I might have known," Flint said as B.E.N. covered his middle with a nervous smile, embarrassed. "You are a living droid. And after all, you were unconscious for nearly 20 hours straight. You must be quite famished. Not to worry, my little friend. There is a cabin boy down in the galley that will fetch you a satisfying meal. And besides, if you starve to death, I'll have no navigator, and I can't afford to lose you."

_I can't afford to lose you!_ That's exactly what Captain Starling had said when Captain Flint had attacked the _S.S. Venture_…before the ship had been burned and before B.E.N. had been taken. He saddened for the loss of Starling, the good crew, the ship…and another someone. Why couldn't he remember? Soon, and he was on his way down to the galley.

Looking around in the galley, he soaked in his surroundings. This particular galley was pretty large, large enough to feed two crews. The kitchen was just ahead. But there was no one here.

"Uh…hello? Hello there!" B.E.N. called out tentatively. "I'm looking for a cabin boy…or someone." No answer. Maybe Captain Flint lied? Or maybe B.E.N. was walking right into some kind of trap? "Well, guess there's no one here. Better go now." He turned around to leave, but the sight of the lot of Captain Flint's crew helped him change his mind. "On second thought…" Facing back towards the kitchen, he tried again. "Uh…hi! I-I'm _still_ looking for a cabin boy! So, could ya…maybe…um, come out…or something? If you wouldn't mind?"

"Who are you?" a young, Irish-accented voice spoke up, taking B.E.N. by surprise. "Wait. You're the new navigator Captain Flint talked about, aren't you?"

"That's me!" B.E.N. chuckled a little, still feeling slightly cautious. The voice revealed itself. It was a young tortoise-like alien, no older than 12 years of age. "Oh! Hi there, little guy."

"So, Captain Flint kidnapped you, too?"

"Well, admittedly, _yes_, but _anyway_…" Then B.E.N. realized something. "Hold on. What exactly do you mean by…'me, too'?"

"He took me away, too," the boy explained in a soft, melancholy tone, hanging his head sadly. "And he killed me mum n' dad."

B.E.N. was utterly stunned, and he gasped. His expression saddened with much sympathy. "Oh…uh…wow…Gee, I'm really sorry…_really_."

"It's all right," the young alien replied shyly. "Someday, I'll be able to make me escape. What's your name, sir?"

"I'm B.E.N., Bio-Electronic Navigator." B.E.N. knelt down to the tortoise boy with a smile and they shook hands. "And you are…?"

"William Bones, but you can call me Billy. I'm the cabin boy."

"Really? _You're_ the cabin boy?"

"Aye. So, what business do you have here, B.E.N.?

"Well, actually—" B.E.N. was cut off. Once again, his stomach grumbled ravenously, loud and metallic, reminding him how hungry he was. "Whoops. Sorry 'bout that. Heh-heh," he chuckled, embarrassed in front of the boy.

Billy Bones laughed and pointed. "Was that _you?_"

"Well," said B.E.N. as he patted his middle, "when you've been unconscious for _20 hours straight_, you tend to work up an appetite."

"I didn't know robots could eat."

"Oh, sure! Well, robots like _me_, anyway."

"Wow. So, what do robots eat?"

"Oh, aluminum, iron, tin, titanium, all _kinds_ of metal!"

"And oil?"

"Personally, I like pure, black petroleum. Straight up, outta the can, ya know?" B.E.N. laughed.

"Oh, here."

Billy Bones fumbled in a floor cupboard, pulled out a can of petroleum, and handed it to B.E.N. Thanking the boy, the robot eagerly opened the nozzle on top and began gulping down the pure oil, his hunger satiating. He went through about three whole cans, drinking them until each can was empty, and his stomach was finally filled. Satisfied, he gave a contented sign and patted his middle. "Mmm! Thanks a bunch, Billy. _Boy_, that really hit the spot."

Just then, behind him came a loud, booming, "B.E.N.!" The robot flinched with a shudder and began to fidget. Turning, he and Billy Bones saw the giant Captain Flint saunter down the steps into the galley. Billy Bones disappeared behind the cooking pot. The pirate was now standing over a shuddering B.E.N., growling. "Did I permit you to chat with the cabin boy?" Flint snarled.

B.E.N. immediately saluted, scared out of his wits all over again. "N-n-no, sir, C-Captain Flint, sir!" He brought his hands together in a plea. "I-I'm sorry, sir! Please don't kill me! Please! Uh…_sir!_"

For a long moment, Flint loomed over the frightened robot, but the pirate captain's expression changed. One minute he was glowering down at B.E.N., the next he was standing to his full height with a smirk on his face. "Hm. I never said I was going to kill you. You're much too valuable, remember?"

"Huh? Oh, oh, yeah, yeah. How could I forget? Heh-heh."

Later that morning, every crewmember was in the galley, waiting for breakfast. It was made fast for the impatient aliens so as not to start one of the many brawls that often occurred on the _Kraken_. Inevitably, every other pirate always fought over the smallest amounts of food. Flint seemed to be the most refined out of all of them. Billy Bones was given nothing to eat but bread and dirtied water. But it could've been worse.

"B.E.N.!" Captain Flint barked at the robot. "Over here! Now!"

B.E.N. obeyed, cautiously approaching Flint at the table. "Yes, sir, Captain Flint, sir?"

"Your first task," Flint sneered with a toothy grin, pointing down at the full plate in front of him. "Sample my food."

B.E.N. looked at the dish, befuddled and uneasy. "Huh? Are you kidding? That's _carbon_ based! I can't eat _that!_"

"Sample my food, or you will not eat at all," Flint snarled. Then, he whispered, "Besides, it may be poisoned, and only a robot, such as yourself, is completely immune to poison."

"Okay. I mean, yes, sir!"

B.E.N. pulled out a clean eating utensil, picked up a marble-sized morsel of bonza beast meat, and very reluctantly popped the piece in his mouth. He knew he was told to find any traces of poison, but that _horribly bland taste!_ It engulfed the entire inner walls of his mouth and caused his face to twist from the bad taste.

"Is there something wrong?" Captain Flint queried in a growl.

"Uh, no, sir. No poison. It's…heh-heh…just right. Nope, nothing wrong here." B.E.N. turned away and spit the piece of meat out of his mouth.

"Good." And Flint crudely chowed down on his meat.

Throughout the long day, B.E.N. was pulled along with Captain Flint wherever he'd go. Today just happened to be the day where B.E.N. was made to take on his second task. In midday, Captain Flint took the robot to the door of the bathing room.

"Stay out here and guard the door," Flint ordered, standing over B.E.N. with a towel around himself.

"Aye, Captain," B.E.N. affirmed, saluting unenthusiastically.

"Oh, and one more thing." Flint then handed B.E.N. three items: a hand towel, a bath brush, and—who would've guessed—a squeaking, yellow, rubber duck. "Hold these for me. Should I be needing them, hand them in to me through the crack of the door. Am I clear?"

B.E.N. was looking at the rubber duck in his right hand, and he snickered as subtly as he could. "Aye, sir," he laughed in a suppressed manner. _Captain Flint and a rubber duck?_ In his mind, B.E.N. was practically rolling in hysterics at the very idea.

"And I order you not to laugh!" Flint snarled angrily, seeing B.E.N. snickering.

"Ah! Oh! Uh—sorry, sir," the robot apologized, shrinking back a bit, completely halting his snickering all together, feeling guilty. "W-won't happen again."

And it never did.

That evening during dinner, B.E.N. had to taste Flint's food again. More meat…oh, joy (note the sarcastic tone).

Soon, it was time for bed.

As B.E.N. came to discover, Captain Flint had a cabin behind his quarters. "You will be sleeping in here, with me," Flint told him. But the room was dark, albeit neatly arranged. On the floor opposite of Flint's bed was a flat mattress and a thin blanket. "This is your bed."

"Huh? This little thing?" B.E.N. questioned, befuddled. "But—"

"_What did I say!_" Flint roared, causing poor B.E.N. to cringe.

"No wining, no fussing, no 'ifs,' 'ands,' or 'buts'…?" B.E.N. replied weakly, repeating what the pirate captain had ordered prior.

"That's right." Then, Flint took off his boots and hat and slipped into bed. B.E.N. only stood there, slouching a little. Turning to the robot, Flint told him, "What are you standing there for? Get into your bed."

"Y-yes, sir, Captain Flint, sir!" And B.E.N. hastily scurried under the blanket on his flat bed. The bed itself felt rugged underneath. Feeling it, he found that what little stuffing there was, was made of straw. To himself, he said, "Well, it can't get any worse."

Ironically, it did.

Just when B.E.N. was getting to sleep, he jumped a few feet in the air, screaming with a horrible start. There came a terribly loud, "_Shnark!_" and he realized that Captain Flint was…(dare I say)…snoring… badly!

"What the—?" the robot queried. Wincing from another snort from Flint, B.E.N. moaned miserably. "This is gonna be a long…" —yet another snort—"…night." And he sighed sadly.

From then on, B.E.N. endured it as best he could. Every single day was the same routine, including a daily raid of another helpless merchant ship. He woke up hungry every morning, sampled every one of Flint's tasteless meals, guarded the bathing room door while Flint took his baths, and was made to sleep in the cabin with Flint. Not that B.E.N. _got_ much sleep due to Flint's snoring, which explained why he always woke up hungry every morning. (Fact: when you're not given enough time to sleep and you haven't eaten in a while, your brain focuses your stomach more on digestion than sleep. Sleep allows the stomach to digest more slowly. This applies to B.E.N. because he is alive.)

Five whole years passed B.E.N. by, and not one thing had changed. His only real friend was Billy Bones, who was maturing little by little, but they weren't able to see much of one another.

Every night, B.E.N. dreamed for the bright solar fire of dawn to come in his heart. For five whole years, he felt trapped…and he was. The darkness of Captain Flint's greed kept B.E.N. locked up. Despite it, B.E.N. tried his very hardest to keep us his spirits, knowing that he'd be set free from Flint's clutches. In time, though, B.E.N. learned to tolerate the pirate captain. But he couldn't help missing the life he once knew. Something in his heart was telling him in a tiny voice that someday…somehow…he would be free once again from the servitude to Captain Flint.

If only he could remember that someone he had forgotten.

To be continued…

—

So? Tell me what you think. Please? I would really appreciate it. I am working my _butt_ off writing with this great story! Please!


	7. A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Lose

I had to do a bit of research to get these sequences right. Listening to the commentary on my _Treasure_ _Planet_ DVD, I discovered a few things I never really knew about. Enjoy!

**Chapter Seven: A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Lose**

Five years was a long time to test food, guard bathroom doors, and bunk with the captain. That was including having to witness the destruction of about a thousand ships after they were raided. By then, the ship's hold was chuck-full of stolen loot. As I had said before, nothing really changed routine wise. It was actually kind of boring. The only thing B.E.N. found truly exciting on the _Kraken_ was having the privilege to see the farthest reaches of the galaxy, especially on this day after five years.

The lookout yelled in alert to Captain Flint, saying that there was something large and green off the fort bow. The entire crew on deck turned in that direction, catching sight of a great deal of misty, green clouds of dust and a slew of giant asteroids in addition. The large, green thing off the fort bow seemed to be hidden behind these clouds. A pair of rings circled the mass in an "X" formation. This intrigued Captain Flint, who had been gazing at the thing through his own pair of binoculars. He grabbed a startled B.E.N., pulling the robot close to the edge of the fort bow.

"B.E.N.! Look out yonder," Flint ordered, pointing. "Use your eyes and tell me. What do you see?"

B.E.N. leaned over the bow with a gulp. He then tapped into his ocular functions. When he closed his eyes and opened them again they became dark, like the thick lenses of two telescopes, and they extended forward. His vision zoomed in on the huge, green mass ahead. Clearly, his vision was far more advanced than Flint's binoculars. B.E.N.'s eyebrows created a confused expression and he pulled his eyes back to his face, having them return to normal.

"What did you see?" Captain Flint wanted to know.

"Well, it appears to be a planet that no one's ever seen before. My history knowledge indicates that it was a planet built a long time ago by a group of _way_ smart scientists." He shrugged nervously. "_But_…ya know, it could be something else entirely. Who knows? Heh-heh."

"Hm. In any case…let us set course for this 'planet.' All ahead full! We're going to get a closer look."

"Aye, Cap'n!" the crew affirmed and the _Kraken_ zoomed forward all ahead full, fast approaching the unknown planet.

The closer they got to the planet, the more they could make out its alien atmosphere. The entire surface appeared to have been overgrown with distinguishable species of fungi. Only a few minor manta birds harbored near the atmosphere. Many of the trees looked like mushroom balloons. The heads of these trees swayed idly, tethered to the mossy floor by the roots.

"What are these things?" demanded Flint.

"Uh, helium trees, sir," B.E.N. identified the tall plant. "And at the roots are some cagefungi and loads of trumpet plants." The _Kraken _loomed closer at some of the other vegetation. One of them resembled a giant centipede made of roots and topped with flourishing branches. B.E.N. pointed up and identified them. "And these giant things are called centipede trees."

The _Kraken_ traveled a bit further, cruising over the surface, until there came a clearing. In the very middle was a tall tower forged of a type of metal similar to that of B.E.N. When asked about the tower, B.E.N. identified that as well. "Well, it appears to be a maintenance tower for the group of scientists. See, they were studying other civilizations with their advanced technology. And unfortunately, there is no trace of them whatsoever."

"Really…" mused Captain Flint. "And why is that?"

"Well, they kinda _evolved_ beyond physicality and merged into energy, which drifted away thousands of years ago. At least, that's what my historical and anthropological knowledge tell me."

"What sort of technology did they use?"

"Oh, the only thing they _could_ use: a _portal_."

"A portal, you say?"

B.E.N. felt now as if he'd told Flint something he shouldn't have. "Um, yeah…"

"Show us. Guide us to this portal…now…"

"Uh, aye, Captain."

Under B.E.N.'s reluctant guidance, the _Kraken_ made its way over more exotic species of fungi. In a few mere minutes, the crew stopped at a tall, thick wall of foliage in front of them. Captain Flint took B.E.N. by the arm, pulling him along, leading the rest of the crew through the foliage. Using his saber, Flint sliced a pathway through the underbrush. Soon, the crew came upon another clearing with a cliff up ahead. The cliff dropped into a vast, endless valley. But it wasn't the valley that captured the crew's eye.

"What is this thing?" Flint demanded.

"Uh…this would be the portal, sir," B.E.N. uneasily replied.

In front of them stood a hundred-foot-tall triangular window, framed with a pulsing green energy. In front of it was a small, holographic, green globe showing latitude and longitude. It was dotted with many different shapes and seemed to rotate in a hover about a foot or two off the ground, supported by a circle of beams shining up from the ground. The window allowed a viewing of a location everyone recognized.

Captain Flint grinned malevolently and turned to B.E.N. "Touch it."

"Huh?"

"Touch one of the shapes on the hologram, dolt. Now."

"Oh, okay." B.E.N. hesitated, but stepped toward the hologram and reached out his right index finger. His finger then touched one of the holographic shapes. The shape beeped and pulsed simultaneously. In an instant, the portal closed for a split second and opened again, showing an entirely different location. B.E.N. relaxed. "It's a controller. See?" he explained. "And these shape thingies are pointers. Heh-heh, kinda like a map…only holographic."

"It allows one to travel instantaneously from one location to another," said Flint, intrigued by the idea. "Yes…we can use this portal to raid more merchant ships faster than any other pirate in the galaxy!"

"Uh…well, see, the group of scientists actually used this portal for research."

"Then perhaps they wouldn't mind if we _borrowed_ it for a little while." Then Flint caught sight of something in the center of the controller. It resembled this very planet. "Touch the middle pointer, B.E.N."

"Uh, okay." B.E.N. did as he was told and touched the center planet in the controller. The pointer glowed for a moment and the portal closed and opened again. This time, the window showed what appeared to be somewhere underground. The space was entirely built from metal and was filled with what looked to be giant prongs jetting energy into holes in the floor. The energy seemed to be comprised of an alien language. The sight of it all fascinated B.E.N. "Wow. This looks like the centroid of the mechanism."

"The center of this planet…yes…perhaps we could utilize this space to store all of our loot…it's brilliant…"

"Oh, boy. Why do I feel like this isn't gonna go so well?" And of course, B.E.N. was referring to the innocent victims that would fall in the destructive wake of Captain Nathaniel Flint.

—

And yet another five years went by.

Using the power of the portal, Captain Flint and his crew of cutthroats raided ship after ship, stealing different kinds of loot. And, of course, who better to operate the controller than B.E.N.? He, after all, was the only one who knew exactly how it was supposed to work as soon as he had figured it out. He knew just where the _Kraken_ was going when she would disappear through the portal. Now it was only during the evenings that B.E.N. had to take on the tasks he was originally assigned. Still, it wasn't any better than when this whole "personal navigator" thing started.

Billy Bones was now 22 years old and still the _Kraken_'s cabin boy. He wasn't much better at all. He had become quite grumpy over the years. He was the only one other than B.E.N. who still dreamed of freedom.

The more Captain Flint stole, the fuller the centroid became, and the greedier Flint was becoming. In these five more years, he soon became consumed by his own greed and his own power. No one would stand in his way, not that anyone _wanted_ to now. In these five more years, he had robbed a thousand worlds of their precious goods and Flint's infinite amount of ill-gotten gains soon became legendary. And the planet had become known as Treasure Planet.

—

Captain Flint could be seen perched in his golden throne, playing with a golden, jeweled goblet in his clawed hands. He was chuckling maliciously to himself. It was clear now that he had been consumed with greed. B.E.N. and Billy Bones were the only two out of the twenty members of the crew who were disinterested in indulging with Flint in the pile of gold the _Kraken_ now stood atop. They were only concerned about their captain, about how crazy he had gotten. Then, one crewmember made a grave and foolish mistake.

"Captain Flint, sir?" said the arachnian B.E.N. had met up with ten years ago. "May we—?" But he was cut short.

Captain Flint turned sharply to the arachnian, snarling long and deep. Then, he pulled out his laser flintlock and shot a laser at the arachnian, who quickly jumped out of the way, snarling. "This loot of a thousand worlds is mine and mine alone! Do you hear?"

The crewmembers drew their own weapons and Captain Flint stood and pulled out another flintlock, continuing to fire. At this, B.E.N. quickly hid behind a chest, peeking his eyes up over the top to watch the terrifying gun fight from a safe distance. Back and forth, laser shots were fired. One missed the captain and was in the path of B.E.N.'s hiding place. B.E.N. quickly evaded it by scurrying behind another chest just before the laser shot reached the other chest. Flint was easily overpowering the rest of his crew, able to take out their weapons with only his two. "Get _out! Be gone! All of you! Get out! Now!_" The crew decided then to turn tail and run towards the open portal that led to the outside. B.E.N. thought of sneaking away to join them, but Flint stopped him. "Not you, B.E.N. You'll remain with me."

Outside, Billy Bones lingered behind for a moment. He then glanced down at the sphere under the controller. It was the _key_ sphere, the only thing keeping this portal open. Looking through the portal at the _Kraken_ inside the centroid, Billy saw B.E.N., his one and only friend, stand with a saddened expression next to the monster that Captain Flint had become. Giving a long sigh, Billy hung his head in shame. "Forgive me, B.E.N." And he yanked the key sphere from its holding place. The ground surrounding the spot for the controller pulsed with a green energy…and the portal and the controller itself vanished into thin air.

In the centroid, B.E.N. saw the portal disappear before his eyes. He gasped worriedly and panicked. "C-Captain Flint! W-we're trapped inside! We're trapped inside!"

"I know…" Flint replied.

"Huh?"

"I must protect my hoard. I must see to it that whoever comes in here shall meet their demise. B.E.N., you're the only one I can trust now. You will help me."

"Uh…okay. Um…what do I do?"

"You will help me build a booby trap."

B.E.N. shuddered at the very idea. "A booby trap?"

"Yes. I must rig the planet to self-destruct should any unwelcome visitors decide to come in here to steal my loot. And these prongs should do the trick. You say that these prongs transfer codes of information from the surface to the core and back. Tell me, B.E.N. What should happen if one of these prongs were to fall?"

"Well, the centroid would implode horribly and then the whole planet would blow higher than a Kalypsian kite, which flies pretty darn high, by the way."

"I like the sound of that."

Captain Flint took the helm and directed the _Kraken_ upward to one of the above giant prongs, commanding B.E.N. to fetch five kegs of the ship's explosives. B.E.N. reluctantly obeyed. Flint placed the five kegs of explosives along one of the pipes lining the side of the prong. Then, they flew back down to the metal platform where the portal always appeared. B.E.N. was told to place two sensors at both ends of the platform. Flint activated the sensors. Between them appeared a thin infrared beam.

Flint's plan was for an unsuspecting someone to step through the beam, setting off the explosives to weaken the prong, which would plummet to the floor and tear apart the centroid. There would only be a 5-minute time limit before the entire planet would go up in smoke.

Just after the infrared beam was placed, Captain Flint suddenly doubled over with a grunt. B.E.N. took note of this. Naturally, he was concerned.

"Back to the ship," Flint ordered, weakly making his way back toward the _Kraken_. B.E.N. obey his order to follow. On deck, the pirate captain slumped down in his golden throne, breathing raggedly and heavily. "My trap is set…" He paused for a breath. "B.E.N.…do you know…what is happening with me?"

"Uh…" B.E.N. wasn't sure how to answer that question. "You're…tired?" he guessed.

"I'm dying, metal mouth."

"Oh."

"There is one last task that you must take on for me, B.E.N. First, I need you to come closer." The uneasy robot obeyed, inching close enough to Captain Flint with a gulp. "Good. Now…turn from me." B.E.N. obeyed.

"Uh…wh-what are ya gonna do? You're not gonna _hurt_ me, are ya?"

"No. But I mustn't allow you to reveal the location of the booby trap to anyone who comes to this planetoid. If they know of it, they will not come here. I want them to fry along with me and the loot of a thousand worlds."

"Oh, well, I-I'm good at keeping secrets."

"I cannot risk it. The only way for you not to reveal the booby trap is for you to forget about it."

"Uh-oh…" B.E.N. could almost see where this was going.

"I am going to erase your memories by pulling your primary memory circuit. It is the only way for you not to tell anyone of the booby trap. Is that clear?"

B.E.N. held his head in shock. "My-my-my-my primary memory circuit?! B-b-but I-I can't live without it! I mean it's one of my most important pieces! It's practically my whole _brain! _How am I supposed to remember stuff? Oh!" he wailed miserably. "I just can't imagine all my memories gone!"

"Too bad, my friend. Now do as I say!"

B.E.N. gulped. "O-okay."

"Now hold still."

"A-aye, sir." To B.E.N., this whole thing felt like a death sentence. He shuddered as soon as he felt Flint's chilling talons grip the back of his head and sink in between the crease separating his head from his memory circuit. B.E.N. squintched his eyes tightly shut with a wince, preparing for the worst. "You're-you're hands are very…cold back there, sir."

"I bid you a fond farewell, B.E.N. Now _you_ must bid farewell…to me…and…to all…of your precious memories."

Finally…it happened.

Captain Flint yanked the circuit out of the robot's head…and…finally…his last breath escaping from his body…expired…with B.E.N.'s memory circuit clutched in a taloned fist. The light that once shined from the circuitry faded…like a once blazing fire that finally fizzled out after twenty long years of life. In B.E.N.'s case, this was not a good thing.

To be continued…

—

So? Soooooooo? How am I doing so far? It's taking me a little while, but I'm doing the best I can. And I still cannot wait for those pictures to come up once this is done. Send me a review! Please?


	8. One Hundred Years of Solitude

Uh…who am I? Oh, yeah! I'm Earth Queen! Jeez…I'm starting to sound like B.E.N., but that's okay. I love him! It's fun to be him! My gosh, I had the _hardest_ time with this one! At first, I couldn't think of just how the food B.E.N. finds can keep him alive for a hundred years. He is supposed to have found it on Treasure Planet, but how would the planet be able to supply it all for that long? I mean, where does it all come from? Something must have happened to that file…

**Chapter Eight: One Hundred Years of Solitude**

The sting in the back of B.E.N.'s head was extremely disconcerting and uncomfortable. It literally felt as if an important chunk of his very being was getting bitten out of his head.

The poor robot shuddered, grimaced, and spluttered with a metallic voice. "_Whoa!_" His eyes flashed different colors and patterns such as alien numbers that seemed to make up some sort of computer code. He held his head, feeling the precious data spill out of his mind like a water dam losing all of its water reserves, becoming almost completely empty. His secondary memory circuits immediately activated, serving as back up. But it wouldn't be enough. His eyes changed from their bright, metallic blue color to a blank, green-ish yellow color. Five colored wires now stuck out in a misshapen mess of the gaping hole in his head where his primary memory circuit once was.

B.E.N. blinked and shook his head, spluttering and moaning, dizzy. "Hullo! Wow! My head feels _really_…strange…" Everything was a blank fuzz in the very reserves of his back up circuits. He was unable to recall much of anything off the top of his head. Memories of his family, his home, his historical and mathematical and scientific knowledge, even his navigational abilities…_everything_ just up and went like a candle being snuffed out.

"This whole place seems…"—he scratched the top of his head in thought—"…very familiar…but I can't remember why. I…I can't remember…? Huh. Why can't I remember?" B.E.N. felt the back of his head. His fingers fell upon the wires sticking out. He froze still. "Ah…" Then…he just _laughed_. "I must've lost my mind! _Literally!_ I wonder where it could've gone…"

Glancing around, B.E.N. then noticed a hulking figure sitting in a golden throne. He recognized the figure on sight. "C…Captain Flint?" Yes, it _was_ Captain Flint, but…he wasn't breathing. "He's… Is he? He…died?" He swallowed hard. "Oh, boy…not good."

The frightened robot made a hasty retreat, but he stumbled terribly over the ship's bow, landing in a heap in a pile of gold coins and jewels. "Ouch… Ooh, my head." Picking himself back up again, B.E.N. made his way over to the wide platform. Completely unaware, he stepped on a trigger and his spot on the platform was suddenly suspended into the air by a long support beam from the floor. Startled, he held on to the edge, watching the ground shrink before his eyes. Then, he disappeared through an opening in the very high ceiling.

What B.E.N. saw around him in a moment's time was unlike anything he'd ever seen. The colors of the new room itself changed to more of a turquoise color. Miles upon miles of hallways of machinery surrounded him and stretched on and on forever above him, vanishing into a void of the eerie green glow. Lights blinked on and off, electrical energy surging through metal tubes in the walls here and there. A low, humming breeze whistled through the space, billowing and changing volume as it did so.

He turned on his heel multiple times, registering the new environment. "Where…where am I? Hul-looooooo!" his voice echoed with his call, the sound loudly bouncing off the walls. In front of him was a walkway that led down a dark hallway. Curious as to where this hallway ahead would lead him, he followed the pathway.

As B.E.N. walked on, he found that he was stuck in an intricate maze of machinery. Lights and lines of circuitry stretched on as far as the eye could see. In some places, it was almost like an advanced city or civilization that had been abandoned long ago. In the walls, there were more lights and sometimes glass displays that had been implanted into the walls. Various items were contained in these glass displays, but many were empty.

Hours went by…and still, B.E.N. wandered aimlessly through the maze, getting absolutely nowhere fast. Exhausted from so much walking, he slowed to a stop. His weak and tired legs gave way beneath him and he collapsed to the cold, metal floor. "Oh…_whew!_ I must be goin' around in _circles_ or something. I can't remember which way I've gone or which way I _haven't_." He lay there for a long moment, feeling more trapped than he'd ever felt in all his years.

Just then, as B.E.N. lifted his head, he noticed a dim light emitting from around the corner of the hallway. It felt extremely familiar to him. The feeling reminded him of a powerful energy, and he thought of a kind of go-juice. He knew just what it was now. He could feel it. It was sunlight! With newfound strength, B.E.N. hopped to his feet and dashed down the hallway. "Oh, _yes!_ It's a way out! Oh, this is fantastic!" Sure enough, after coming to a ladder and pushing through an above hatch door—blinded for a brief moment from the rush of warm light—he had finally made it to the surface of the planet!

The sunlight dappled between the canopy of helium trees and the distant sounds of wild animals (mostly birds) met B.E.N.'s ears. The wind was blowing in a gentle breeze until it stopped after a while. The very air itself now felt like it was searing with wet heat.

"And—_boy_, is it hot!" Oh, yeah, he'd forgotten about the humid weather here. B.E.N. even began to leak oil from the creases of his parts. "Well, _this_ isn't very pretty. Whew!" He wiped away the oil from his limbs and head. Robots, being made of metal, did not perspire. But since B.E.N. was made to be human-like, leaking oil was just as natural as was it for carbon-based life forms to sweat whenever it was hot out.

He also figured it was about time he could use a tune-up. Too bad there was no one around. He could probably do with some self-maintenance, but he couldn't recharge his own eye-sockets. He needed someone to help. Captain Flint had just expired, and thus was of no use anymore.

After doing a little more walking and gazing around the green landscape, B.E.N. sat down on a nearby boulder under the shade of a helium tree to relax his weary parts, putting his hands behind his head and exhaling. "Ahhh… It sure is nice out today…well, despite the oil-inducing heat," he admitted. "Other than that...nice and peaceful…"

Ten minutes went by…

It was time to start walking again.

While he walked, B.E.N. turned his head and noticed the shrubs of trumpet plants. His eyes started to play tricks on him and caused him to see one of the trumpet plants transform into a fresh can of pure, black petroleum…just the way he liked it. "Gee…that looks kinda tasty…" He felt like he was in some sort of trance as he stopped and stared at the image, but something was telling him to snap out of it. "Huh?" B.E.N. shook his head, blinked, and looked again. The trumpet plant had returned to its original form. "Oh…" He was almost disappointed that the can of petroleum wasn't real. He starting walking again.

Then, he turned his head in another direction. His eyes continued to play tricks on him. The lumps of fungi on the ground transformed into a bunch of aluminum chippers. A small nearby cagefungus transformed into a familiar plate of tin foil noodles with titanium spheres and a good amount of thick petroleum sauce as the topping. This time, it was a bit more difficult for B.E.N. to resist the temptation to eat what his eyes were seeing, and he lapped his metal tongue ravenously and swallowed, a small dribble of oily drool dripping down the side of his lower jaw. Then, he rubbed his eyes and blinked. Shaking his head and looking again, he found that everything was back to normal. However, all the foodstuffs B.E.N. had been seeing returned to his vision with a vengeance soon after, appearing to him in numbers, crowding around him. Now he _knew_ that he was hallucinating.

"Ah! Come on! Snap out of it!" Spluttering, he had to shake his head again, attempting to ward away the enticing hallucinations. Thankfully, the hallucinations faded away as if they were nothing. "Whew!" he breathed. "That's a relief. Although, those things looked _extremely_ appetizing."

It was true; he felt a strange, empty feeling he hadn't felt in a while, and it was finally catching up to him. A sad, metallic, gargling noise erupted from B.E.N.'s stomach. It almost startled him. Casting a downward glance, he said while patting his middle, "Whoops. Heh-heh-heh. Wonder if there's anything to eat around here."

Besides the obvious fact that he was hungry, the main thing bringing about these hallucinations was the heat. Yet on this planet, the heat didn't last any longer than around mid afternoon and B.E.N. soon became used to it. But finding edible robot food and decent shelter was going to be a real challenge, especially with his empty digestive unit giving him troublesome hunger pangs.

As B.E.N. explored the seemingly endless and dense jungle of tall helium trees, small centipede trees, and giant cagefungi, these plants were all he was coming upon. He found very few animal life forms along the way, such as lunar eels and manta birds. The more he searched the forest, the more he came to realize that there seemed to be no one else around, though he was positive that he would find someone who could provide food, shelter, and a good tune-up for him. But for now, B.E.N. was on his own. And without a memory circuit, his navigational system was completely unusable.

He soon came upon a less dense part of the jungle where the sun seemed to be shining brighter. He was feeling pretty good at this point as he kept on walking, closing his eyes with much confidence. Ironically, closing his eyes meant absolutely no sense of direction, and B.E.N. went tumbling down a steep, rooted hill, landing in a darker part of the jungle where only little sunlight showed down through the canopy. And besides, by now he had become dirty from all this filthy fungi. "Ouch…" he moaned after landing in a muddled heap. But he jumped to his feet and continued on his way, hearing the howling coos of distant animal calls.

In a short time, B.E.N. approached a wall of trumpet plant foliage. Curious, he parted the plants and widened his eyes. Before him was a huge, wide clearing. There was plenty of sunshine here. But the focal point of the clearing was a tall, metal tower that was covered with fungi and green moss and vines. There was an oval opening at the top, facing the outside like a giant window. B.E.N. smiled from ear to ear at the wonderful sight. Finally! Shelter! And he ran hastily up to the tower and climbed up the vines to the opening and landed inside the tower.

Inside was a wide room that struck B.E.N. as vaguely familiar. At the right side was a disarray of junk someone had left behind. Cloth, barrels, you name it. And yet, all of these items were essential and strangely fresh for use. What B.E.N. didn't remember as he quickly built a quaint living space with the found items was that he had been in this tower before with the late Captain Flint and his pirate crew five years ago.

In about an hour, B.E.N. completed the living space and stepped back to admire his work. He used a huge sheet of cloth to create a wall, behind which there was a cluttered arrangement of the crates, pots, pans, and nick-knacks he'd found, including a makeshift hammock that he would use as a bed. It wasn't perfect, but it could prove useful to him.

Well, he had shelter. What about _food?_

(ZZZZZ! The file containing information on the root origin of the hundred-year's supply of food for robots has been deemed inaccessible. ZZZZZ!)

Luckily, B.E.N. was able to find a supply of his favorite petroleum and a heaping amount of newly discovered items for him to eat, such as what he called exploding astro nuts, snarling bite-back bananas, and flying pop rockets. As he came to learn—the hard way—the flying pop rockets seemed to escape his grasp and he exerted his energy through chasing them until he was able to catch and eat them.

During the construction of the campsite, B.E.N. had found an old chess board with all of the pieces in tact, amazingly.

Just then, B.E.N. came to realize that he desperately needed a tune-up when he noticed that his metal needed buffing. In addition, his vision was just beginning to falter. Perhaps all he needed to do was to find someone that could give him that much-needed tune-up. So, he ventured out into the wilderness. Wandering between the helium trees and over small centipede tree underbrush, B.E.N. searched left and right for ages, calling out, "Hul-looooooo! Anybody out there? I could kinda use a good tune-up! Anybody?" A few times, he bumped painfully into a couple of trees because he was slightly lacking in vision. "Ohh…now I've got a headache."

As if answering B.E.N.'s call, a bunch of space animals showed themselves from their hiding places around the forest. Purple lunar eels with multiple tongues that could snatch prey were curved around the trunks of the trees and a scattered flock of manta birds popped up from between trumpet plants. The robot was overcome with fascination at the sight of these creatures and smiled.

"Hi there!" B.E.N. happily greeted. "Say, think you might help me? I kinda need a few repairs." The creatures stared at him, confused. Perhaps he wasn't using the right dialect? He tried something a bit simpler. "Uh…you…help me?" He pointed to himself. "Me need repairs." But the creatures slowly crept back into hiding, unable to understand. "Oh, wait!" The creatures stopped and looked back at B.E.N. "Um…Would you all be so kind as to help me with my repairs?" This time, the creatures seemed to understand, strangely enough.

It was tough trying to talk a few wild animals into doing what he so nicely asked them to do. Eventually, though, B.E.N. was able to persuade two manta birds into buffing his metal with their rough wings and three lunar eels into charging his eye sockets with their many tongues pulling at a few wires and using their electrical energy to get the job done. The animals had made it so easy for him; he kicked back and relaxed while the animals gave him his tune-up. In no time at all, he was smooth and shiny and his vision was in perfect shape. He rewarded them with heartfelt thanks.

After his tune-up, the space creatures followed B.E.N. back to his newfound bachelor pad in the tower and watched him put together a thick sandwich that consisted of his favored snacks. Though it wasn't his idea of a family picnic, he grew accustomed to it.

And this was only the beginning.

Over a great number of years, B.E.N. made do with whatever he was able to find and create based on what he had found. Every morning, he started the day with a few bite-back bananas and a can of his favorite petroleum straight up. In his spare time—which was most of the time—B.E.N. invented checkers games with the chessboard and pieces. Galaxy checkers, space checkers, gravity checkers…each game he invented was distinct as far as how to play each game.

But when B.E.N. played one of the checkers games he'd invented, he discovered something very crucial… He needed someone else to play with. Therein lay a problem: there really _was_ no one else. B.E.N. was completely all by his lonesome. Besides the creatures he'd become friends with, he was the only living soul on this whole entire planet.

And despite this reality he was now facing, B.E.N. picked up a hat he'd found in the mess of junk, put it on his head, and declared himself Captain B.E.N. He figured that since there was no one else around he was the one in charge. So, life here wasn't as bad as many people would think,, because B.E.N. made the most of it. Then again, B.E.N. was also without a memory circuit to help him recall all the things that had happened before and the things he had missed.

And yet…over the decades…living here without anyone else also became quite lonely. He knew that there was something else other than this planet. What he lacked was the knowledge and the resources to finally get off of this miserable rock.

Well, at one time, he experimented at building a giant transportation system out of cagefungi and helium trees. Despite that once he would finish the thing and was to call it the Mambo Queen, his experiment ended to no avail.

With each passing year, B.E.N. lost his sanity bit by bit. And unfortunately, he was forced to endure one hundred years of total and complete solitude…

In the end, he had become his own best friend. His _only_ friend.

To be continued…

—

I hope it wasn't two short. So, anyway, please let me know how I'm doing. I greatly appreciate the reviews. As I said before in the past…I am working my _butt_ off!


	9. A New Friend At Last!

The title is pretty much self-explanatory. This gives you a little insight on B.E.N.'s own perspective on what happens throughout the rest of the story, the part that we all know. Anyway, hope you like it. Enjoy!

**Chapter Nine: A New Friend At Last!**

Well, it happened.

An entire century passed B.E.N. by, and not once did he complain. However, no one came to rescue him. Although that pang of loneliness continued to revisit him over and over again, he remained optimistic about his circumstances. He was living a simple life. He had everything he needed…except someone to play checkers with. And again the loneliness came. Sure, in material possessions he had everything he needed, but he was the only one here on this isolated, mechanical rock. Little by little his simple life felt emptier and emptier.

The sun peaked up over the horizon as it always did in the mornings. In his little, somewhat cluttered living space in the tower, B.E.N. yawned and stretched as he sat up in his comfortable hamoc, rubbing his sleepy, yellowish eyes. He didn't know it, but a tiny voice seemed to be telling him that today would be the day that he would finally find a friend.

"Good morning," the robot yawned to himself. "It's gonna be a _beautiful_ day! I can _feel_ it in my sensors! But first, a quick breakfast. The most important meal of the day, as they say!" He laughed.

B.E.N. happily sprang out of bed and fixed himself a filling dish, consisting of his usual provisions: exploding astro nuts, snarling bit-back bananas, and a small helping of flying pop rockets. As he did almost every day, he went through the trouble of trying to chase down and catch the pop rockets that escaped his grasp. Somewhat exhausted from the chase, he worked up more of an appetite.

His hunger sated, B.E.N. picked up the hat he would sometimes use and fit it on top of his head. Once again, he was his personal one-man show…if he _had_ an audience. He dramatically pointed to the empty air as if there were someone in front of him.

"All right, B.E.N.! It's time we got to doing…er, something!" Quickly taking the hat off, he jumped to the spot he was pointing to, playing the part of someone else, saluting to empty air. "Yes, sir, Captain B.E.N., sir!" Putting the hat back on, he jumped to his original spot, talking to the empty air again. "First order of business is that we…" He paused, searching his mind. "I _got_ it! We shall…play hide-and-seek with the trees!" He jumped back again, taking the hat off. "Yes, sir! Right away, sir!"

His performance finished, B.E.N. placed the hat on top of the barrel, laughing to himself. Soon after, he was on his way out of the tower, climbing down the vines and moss, and made his way into the fungus-ridden forest.

B.E.N. came up to the side of a helium tree, counted to a designated number, and rushed to a hiding place. His first choice of such was a small patch of trumpet plant foliage. Shrinking down on his wheeled knees and ankles, he hid himself well.

—

It had been about 3½ hours since B.E.N. had hidden in the foliage. Opening the compass on his front, he checked the time. Yep, 3½ hours. "Gee, those trees are pretty slow…and dense," he said to himself in a whisper. "Wait. Maybe it's _me_. Oh, well," he shrugged. At first, he thought he heard a crash in the distance, but he assumed it was nothing and continued to hide.

A few more minutes passed.

The forest remained still.

All was quiet. For a time.

But not for long.

A shuffle of footsteps startled B.E.N., and he ducked down behind the foliage with a gasp. His heart jumped and began to pound hard and fast behind his chest. In a few seconds, he decided to see just what it was that was walking around out there.

Careful not to be seen, he commanded his right telescopic eye to extend outward between two trumpet plants. Poking through, his eye became black and smooth like the lens of a real telescope. His eye raised its eyebrow. His heart jumped again and beat faster and he gasped at the best sight he could have ever met in all his lonely years.

_Is that…? Oh! Yes! I can't believe it! At last! At last!_

The form that was wandering around the forest floor was a _carbon-based_ life form! A boy, no older than about 15 years and accompanied by a little, floating blob thing, was searching the forest depths. For what, B.E.N. knew not. He was just too happy to finally see someone for the first time in a hundred years! You could say he was happier than a lunar eel in an Arcturian meteor shower.

A tiny excited whir sounded from inside of him as B.E.N. rolled a good two feet down on his wheels, his eye still extended outward as he moved silently through the thick underbrush. Positioning himself, he kept his longing gaze on the boy. He was as careful as could be not to make any noticeable sounds, but his movements rustled the foliage. The boy stopped in his tracks. B.E.N. quickly retracted his right eye just as the boy turn towards his general direction. He was perfectly hidden, but the boy knew now that he was there. _Oh! He's coming this way!_ B.E.N. sat in quiet anticipation, trying containing his excitement. The boy was approaching the foliage and seemed to be looking cautiously into the bell of a trumpet plant, which sat right next to the robot. B.E.N. wasn't able to hold it in any longer, and he finally let himself be known.

"_Aaaahhh!_" he cried out with sheer joy, putting his face up into the boy's face.

"_Aaaahhh!_" the boy cried as well, but out of fear, as he had never seen anything like B.E.N. before.

B.E.N., unable to contain himself, immediately leapt from the foliage and jumped the boy, both of them falling to the ground, with B.E.N. on top of him. "_Ohhhh!_ This is fantastic!" the robot exclaimed, examining the boy for a quick second. "A carbon-based life form come to rescue me, at _last!_ I just wanna _hug_ ya 'n _squeeze_ ya 'n _hold_ ya close to me!"

And that's just what he was doing, blissfully hugging the boy, not wanting to let go. The boy seemed to be struggling against him, but B.E.N. didn't notice. He was—I say again—just too happy! He felt like the gaping whole in his life had finally been filled.

"All right, all right," the boy protested, pushing B.E.N. off of him, but the robot latched onto the boy's legs with a squeal. "Will you just let go of me?!"

B.E.N. realized that the boy was not enjoying this and respected his wishes, instantly backing off with his hands raised up in defense. "Oh! Sorry! Sorry, sorry," he quickly apologized. To lighten things up a bit, he put an arm around the boy's shoulders. "It's just…" he began to speak his piece, "I-I-I've been…_marooned_ for so long. I mean—" he chuckled "—solitude's _fun_, don't get me wrong. For heaven's sake, after a hundred years…_ya go a little nuts!!_" His face bursting with a crazed animated expression, B.E.N. laughed.

The boy folded his arms after the robot stopped laughing and put a hand on his hip. He could see now that the boy wasn't even cracking a smile. Once again, B.E.N. tentatively backed off, fixing up the boy's shirt and apologizing, "I-I'm sorry. Am I…?"

B.E.N. decided then that an introduction was in order and held out a hand to the boy. "I am…um…" His own name had gone from what little memory he had left. "My name is…uh…" The robot gripped the top of his head, thinking hard. He wasn't seeing this, but the little, floating blob thing transformed into a miniature of B.E.N. with a cuckoo bird making noises from his head. The boy put a hand on the blob's head, forcing him to return to his normal form.

"_B.E.N.!_" the robot finally remembered. "Of course! I'm B.E.N.!" he introduced. "Bio-Electronic Navigator." Pointing to the compass on his front, he spun the needle, which made his compass open up involuntarily. "Oops." He closed it back up with a fleeting pang of embarrassment. "And you are…?" he inquired of the boy.

"Jim," the boy also introduced, unenthusiastic.

"Oh! What a pleasure to meet ya, Jimmy!" B.E.N. vigorously shook the boy's hand.

Stopping him, the boy corrected, "It's _Jim_."

"Anyway…"

The boy, Jim, began to walk away from B.E.N., who looked on with a bright smile. "Look, I'm kind of in a hurry," Jim explained. "I've gotta find a place to hide, and there's pirates chasing—"

Scurrying up in front of Jim, B.E.N. exclaimed, "Oh! Pirates! Don't get me started on pirates! I don't like them," he chuckled while the boy continued to walk away. B.E.N. casually came up to a tree with a boulder under it and leaned against the tree trunk. "I remember Captain Flint," he reminisced in a bit of a rant. "This guy had such a temper!"

The boy seemed to grow excited at the mentioning of Captain Flint and returned to the robot. "Wait, wait. You knew Captain Flint?"

B.E.N. took a seat on the boulder under the tree and relaxed on it as if it were a comfortable chair. "I think he suffered from mood swings, personally. I'm not a therapist. And _anyway_…But I—you lemme know when I'm rambling!"

"But wait. Then that means you gotta know…about the treasure?"

B.E.N. was caught off his guard, feeling as though he were put on the spot. His mind, or lack thereof, went blank. Something about this treasure seemed familiar to him, but I just couldn't put his finger on it. "Treasure?" he queried uneasily.

"Yeah, Flint's trove. You know, uh, 'loot of a thousand worlds'?" the boy described excitedly. The blob thing transformed into a tiny chest full of gold drubloons for visual reference.

B.E.N. got back up from his seat, trying to think, but it proved difficult. "It's…well, it's-it's-it's-it's all a little-little-_little_…fuzzy…" He seemed to be having some first signs of glitches, especially now when he was trying to recall that…_something_. He became wide-eyed and began to think.

"Wait. I…I re-re-remember. I _do_. I d—_treasure!_" As he thought hard about this, static showed in his eyes and tiny electrical sparks flew from the gaping hole in his head. His eyes flashed with an image of a chest full of gold. "_Lots_ of treasure…" more sparks flew and his eyes then showed a simplistic image of some sort of red, central core, and his glitches grew worse "…_buried_ in the centroid-centroid-centroid of the mechanism! And there was this _big_ door…" now his eyes showed a tall, green triangle that opened and closed "…opening and closing and opening and closing…! And Captain Flint wanted to make sure _nobody_ could _ever_ get to his _treasure_, so I helped him…"

He grunted in a distorted voice, his face scrunching up from the strain while a whole load of sparks flew riotously from his head. Poor B.E.N. had accidentally gone overboard and overloaded what was left of his memory banks! His head literally spun on his thin neck as he spluttered with a high-pitched voice. When his voice returned to normal he cried out loud, "_Aaaahhh! Data inaccessible! Reboot! Reboot! Reboot! Reboot!_" Just by looking at him, one could tell that this was excruciating to him.

"B.E.N.!" Jim, in attempt to keep B.E.N. from crashing, slapped him across the face, causing his head to spin completely around.

"And you are…?" B.E.N. reverted right back to a previous conversation. Well, at least he was saved from crashing.

"Wait, wait, wait! What about the treasure?"

"I wanna say Larry," the robot guessed.

"The-the _centroid_ of the _mechanism_ or…"

B.E.N. felt somewhat ashamed that he was unable to remember much of anything. It was unfortunate for him that he had no clue as to how he had become this forgetful. And for some odd reason or other, this boy was desperate to get some answers out of him. Too bad, B.E.N. wasn't able to provide those answers. "I'm sorry. M-m-my memory isn't what it used to be," he apologized. "Lost my mind. Ha, ha, I've _lost_ my mind!" he chuckled with a crazy smile and came around to Jim's back and searched around his shirt. "You haven't found it, have you?"

"Uh…"

"My missing piece?" the robot explained and pointed to the gaping hole in the back of head where the wires stuck out haphazardly like a sore thumb. "My primary memory circuit?" He smiled hopefully at Jim.

"Look, B.E.N.," said Jim, beginning to walk away again, "I _really_ need to find a place to hide, okay?" B.E.N.'s eyes changed from hopefulness to dejection. "So, I'm just gonna be…you know, moving on." And Jim walked a way's off.

B.E.N. felt crestfallen and sad. One minute he was just trying to make a friend—the first in more than a whole _century_, need I remind you—the next…this first sign of a real shot at a better home was vanishing from him again. B.E.N.'s heart was sinking, and he could feel that hole returning to his lonely life. "Oh, uh…so, well, then…I guess, uh…this is good-bye, huh?" He turned his back to Jim and slouched miserably. "I-I'm _sorry_ that I'm so…" he shrank down to his wheeled knees and ankles and retracted his arms "…dysfunctional. So, uh…go ahead and, uh…I do understand…I do." He sniffed. "Bye-bye," he said meekly, sounding like he would start crying at any given moment and began to roll slowly away.

The boy remained silent for a moment and exhaled. "Look, if you're gonna come along," he said finally, "you're gonna have to stop talking."

Those words gave B.E.N. the exact lift he needed and spun to his full height, once again happy and joyful, knowing that he would never have to be alone again. "Huzzah! _Ah_, ha, ha, ha! Oh, this is fantastic!" he exclaimed excitedly, running up to Jim and jumping into his arms. "Me and my best buddy, out lookin' for a—!" B.E.N. suddenly noticed that Jim was glaring at him. He nervously cleared his throat and made a zip-the-lip gesture across his mouth. "Being quiet," he whispered, hugging Jim's face.

"And you have to stop _touching_ me," Jim told him. B.E.N. flinched.

"Touching 'n talkin.'" B.E.N. jumped from Jim's arms and chuckled. "That's my two big no-no's."

"Okay. Now I think that we should head—"

"Say, listen," said B.E.N., just now realizing that he needed to take care of something important (I'd rather not say what), "before we go out on our big 'search'…um…" slightly embarrassed, he stepped over to a thin grove of trumpet plants, parting them "…would you mind if we made a quick pit stop at my place? Heh-heh. Kind of urgent." He grinned bashfully, revealing the huge clearing where his tower home sat.

Jim smiled. "B.E.N.…I think you just solved my problem."

To be continued…

—

Okay, so it was a little short. So, what? Just send me a review and tell me what you think, and I am open to tips on how I could make this better. Thank you!


	10. Crossed Wires

Not much to say about this one…except that all of this is seen through B.E.N.'s own perspective. Enjoy!

**Chapter Ten: Crossed Wires**

The orange and yellow light of dusk settled upon the planet in little time.

Jim had explained to B.E.N. that there were two others with Jim and Morph, the floating blob. In just a few minutes, those two others were introduced to the spontaneous robot. B.E.N. got the chance to meet a male canidid with glasses, named Doctor Delbert Doppler. The other one was a female felinid named Captain Amelia, who had been injured during a crash-landing.

As soon as dusk fully settled, B.E.N. humbly welcomed Jim and his friends into the tower. Of course, B.E.N. had just now realized that the entire room in which he had made his home was a pigsty.

"Uh, pardon the mess, people," the robot sheepishly apologized as Jim walked inside, followed by the others. "You'd think in a hundred years I would've _dusted_ a little more often," he laughed, picking up his checkers set. "When you're batchin' it,"—he then picked up a pair of under garments he had discovered nearly a century ago and hid them behind his back—"you tend to, uh, let things go."

As B.E.N. was explaining all of this, he then noticed that Doppler was coming into the room with the injured Captain Amelia in his arms. Of course, B.E.N. immediately mistook them for newly-weds. He had already forgotten why they were here and smiled. "Awww, isn't that sweet!" Eager to please, he reached into his tent to fetch something. "I find old-fashioned romance so touching, don't you?" B.E.N. came out again, grinning widely and holding an aged pan with two metal cups that had been filled with dark, bubbling petroleum, unaware of the fact that he was the only one around here who was able to even touch the stuff. "How 'bout drinks for the happy couple?"

"Oh…uh, no, thank you, we don't drink," Doppler replied while removing his red coat, turning his attention down to Captain Amelia, who had been laid down to be given the chance to rest. "And we're not a couple."

B.E.N. understood. Shrugging, he set the petroleum down on the wooden barrel and decided to leave the two alone together, strolling over to the opening where the warmth of the setting sun poured in. He exhaled contentedly as he took in the sun's light, storing the precious energy into his solar batteries, which were located in the pack that had been attached to his back since birth. He had no idea just how much of his memories he was missing at this moment. It wasn't his fault. But he also had no idea as to whose fault it was that he had lost all the memories that were rightfully his.

Just then, something down at the base of the tower caught B.E.N.'s eye. Jumping up onto the rim of the opening, he took a closer look. There seemed to be a group of aliens down below. Excited, B.E.N. cried out to Jim, pointing, "Hey, look! There're some more of your buddies!" Waving his arms to the group outside, he called out, "Hey, fellas! We're over here, fellas!"

Unfortunately, B.E.N. was drawing the attention of dangerous weapons to himself. Fires of lasers shot towards him. Quick to act, mostly out of panic, B.E.N. was able to dodge the lasers shots, but just barely. He was then grabbed by his middle and pulled down from the rim and out of the weapons' line of fire. Jim had a flintlock of his own, and he utilized it, firing laser shots at the group. Resting still against a nearby wall, B.E.N. was cowering and silently scolding himself for not realizing that these guys with the guns were pirates!

However, a voice commanded the pirates to stop shooting and everything seemed to be calm. B.E.N. watched quietly as Jim reloaded his flintlock, hiding behind the rim of the opening. The voice outside was hollering, "Hu-llooo up there!" A small pause. "Jimbo? If, uh, it's all right with the captain, I'd like a short word with ya. No tricks, just a little palaver."

Amelia didn't seem to enjoy what the voice below was suggesting. "Come to bargain for the map, doubtless," she said. In her anger, she attempted to return to her feet when she was clearly in no shape to do so. She stopped with a grunt and rested back again with the doctor scolding her.

"That means," Jim mused with a knowing smirk, "that he thinks we still have it." Laying his flintlock down to the floor he said, "I'll go down there and have a chat with him. You guys wait here." In a second, Jim was making his way out of the tower.

B.E.N. worried for Jim. "Oh, careful, Jimmy…"

—

It wasn't long before Jim arrived back into the tower. He seemed to be upset about something, but he wouldn't say what. B.E.N. was only glad that Jim was unharmed. The robot was a bit put off by the angry shouting he'd picked up during Jim's absence.

Soon enough, though, night fell upon the planet, bathing the surface in a dark, bluish glow. Gazing out the opening, B.E.N. noticed that the pirates had put together a campfire at the edge of the forest. He was aware of the predicament they had all gotten themselves into. This was no cakewalk, B.E.N. knew. And despite everything that had happened thus far, he kept up his optimism, which was something that everyone currently needed.

"Gentlemen…" Amelia's voice stated, sounding quite weak and faint and bringing all attention to her, "we must…stay together and…and…" The poor captain seemed as though she were slipping away.

"And what? _What?_" Doppler cried with much concern for Amelia. "We must stay together and _what?_"

Amelia looked up at Doppler with a dazed expression and smiled in a silly manner. "Doctor…you have…wonderful eyes…"

"She's lost her mind!"

Oh, boy, did B.E.N. know the feeling…or _did_ he? He couldn't remember!

"Well, you gotta help her!" Jim tried to encourage Doppler.

"Dang it, Jim! I'm an _astronomer_, not a _doctor!_ I mean I _am_ a doctor, but I'm not _that_ kind of doctor. I have a doctorate. It's not the same thing; you can't help people with a doctorate. You just…_sit_ there and you're _useless!_" The anxiety-stricken doctor held his head and seemed to be on the verge of tears.

Jim approached Doppler and attempted to calm him down. "It's okay, doc. It's all right."

Just as Jim was walking away, B.E.N. approached the doctor as well, hoping to provide some reassurance. "Yeah, doc. Jimmy knows _exactly_ how to get out of this. It's-it's-it's-Jimmy has this knowledge of things. Heh-heh." Then, B.E.N. came up behind Jim and whispered to the boy in a low and hushed tone, "Jim, any thoughts at all?" Giving Jim a little room, he backed away and fell silent as Jim answered solemnly:

"Without the map, we're dead. If we try to _leave_, we're dead. If we stay here—"

"We're dead!" Morph piped up next to Jim. "We're dead, we're dead, we're dead!" Morph noticed that Jim was not at all happy about this and floated over near B.E.N.

"Well," said B.E.N. in a whisper, "I that, uh, Jimmy could use a little 'quite time.' Heh-heh." He then slowly began to make his way to the rear of the room, adding, "So, I'll just slip out the back door."

"Back door?" Jim repeated.

"Oh, yeah," replied B.E.N., who had just started opening another doorway in the rear of the room. Jim was moving to help the robot open the door. A greenish-blue light beamed up from down inside the opening and a gentle rush of wind billowed in from the space underneath. "I get this delightful breeze through here…which I think is important because ventilation among friends is—"

"Whoa!" Jim exclaimed at the sight of what lay beyond the threshold. "What _is_ all this stuff?"

In B.E.N.'s mind, or lack thereof (no offense, B.E.N.), he knew not what Jim was referring to, and yet he was able to identify it. "You mean the miles and miles of machinery that run through the entire course of the inside of this planet? Not a clue!" he admitted.

Excited, Jim told Doppler while climbing up near the opening, "Hey, Doc! Doc! I think I found a way outta here!"

"No, no, Jim! Wait!" Doppler tried. "The captain ordered us to stay toge—"

"I'll be back!" And Jim, followed by Morph disappeared down the exit.

"_Cannonball!_" B.E.N. hollered out, eagerly taking the plunge and disappearing along with Jim.

—

A few minutes passed by.

B.E.N., Jim, and Morph had all ended up at the edge of forest, not far from the tower. Down inside the hatch, B.E.N. watched as Jim opened the hatch door and peeked up from underneath it. Snoring could be heard outside. Unfortunately, B.E.N. wasn't aware of that.

"So what's the plan?" the robot asked loudly, bursting up the hatch next to Jim and Morph.

"Shh! B.E.N.! Quite!" Jim hissed. B.E.N.'s mouth was immediately forced shut as Jim was attempting to keep him quite. He seemed to understand when the sleeping pirates snorted but didn't wake. "Okay, here it is," Jim whispered as quietly as possible and B.E.N. listened carefully. "We sneak back to the _Legacy_…"

"Mm-hm…" B.E.N. responded with a nod, his voice muffled.

"…disable the laser cannons…"

"Mm-hm…"

"…and bring back the map."

His voice still muffled, B.E.N. whispered, "That's a good plan. I like that plan. The only thing is, I'm wonderin'…how do we get there?" he wanted to know.

"On that."

Jim pointed towards a tethered lifeboat. In no time, the three were on their way to the great ship that had been harboring all this time just outside the planet's atmosphere. B.E.N. felt a rush of freedom course through him at the sight of the _Legacy_. But Jim reminded him to focus on the task at hand, and B.E.N. obeyed as they silently approached the ship.

B.E.N., Jim, and Morph peeked up over the starboard bow to see if anyone was onboard. The deck seemed to be vacant, so the three carefully climbed up over the bow. However, B.E.N. cried out, suffering a terrible stumble onto the deck, his limbs clattering.

"B.E.N.!" Jim hissed at the robot angrily.

"Sorry, sorry…sorry," B.E.N. apologized in a whisper, feeling embarrassed, but he was able to pick himself back up again.

He felt that it was right to follow his new friend, the main reason being because he felt loyal to Jim. After all, Jim was B.E.N.'s ticket off of Treasure Planet, though B.E.N. wasn't completely aware of that. Right now, he was serving as Jim's helper in this little mission, and he felt it was his duty to do anything to be of assistance as he followed the boy towards an open gangway that would lead down into the ship's hull, tiptoeing downstairs behind him.

Stopping at the bottom of the flight of stairs, Jim told B.E.N., "Okay, I'll get the map. You wait here—"

"Roger, Jimmy," B.E.N. replied, saluting, his natural navigator mannerisms showing through as if he were still part of a crew. "I'll neutralize laser cannons, _sir!_" Not paying attention to Jim's attempt's to stop him, the robot readily dropped to his wheeled knees and ankles and rolled down the dimly lit hallway to the engine room, singing to himself, "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!"

Arriving at the engine room, B.E.N. stopped at the threshold, jumped to his feet, and walked inside. He was a little uncertain as to how this plan of Jim's was supposed to work. "Disable a few laser cannons. What is the big deal?" He was approaching the box attached to the wall. "All we gotta do is find that one, little wire—" Opening it, B.E.N. received a good look at what lay inside. The box was a jumble of countless, colored wires, each with a different purpose for controlling the ship. Gasping in shock at the tangled and confused sight, he said with his jaw dropped wide open, "Oh, mama…" This was going to be tougher than he had originally thought.

Well, he was smart enough to know where the engine room was located, but once again, his mind failed to recall which wire was the right one. Nervously, B.E.N. chose a random wire and pulled it from the socket. Instantly, a loud siren blared out of nowhere, sounding throughout the ship. Wincing, B.E.N. realized what he had done. "_Bad_, B.E.N.! _Bad!_" he scolded himself. "'Kay, fixing!" As he re-plugged the wire into its original socket, the siren was killed.

He had a good idea already which one was the right one. The problem was that he had to _find_ it and pull it from the socket. For the next couple of minutes, B.E.N. experimented with a few more wires, many of which did nothing. He closely examined a few of the wires he was pulling, knew they did nothing to help and re-plugged each one in the correct socket.

"Wonder if _this_ is it?" B.E.N. said to himself. In his mind, he was a bit hesitant, but he gripped the wire and pulled it out. However, as soon as he did the entire room was instantly shrouded in pitch-black darkness. In other words, he had unplugged the ship's lights. In reaction to this, B.E.N. activated the flashlight feature in his eyes, and a pair of yellow-ish beams of light pierced the darkness. "_Whoops!_" At the mistake he had made, B.E.N. felt uneasy. "Okay, don't-don't panic. Breathing in…"—he inhaled deeply—"…breathing out…"—and exhaled, getting himself calmed down.

In the next instant, the hull was bathed in a dim shade of red as the emergency lights came on automatically. "Whew," B.E.N. breathed, able to relax. It was still much too dim for him to see properly, so he kept the lights on in his eyes.

He took another thirty seconds to look over the wires in the box, carefully. "Hmmm…" His eyes laid on one of the many he hadn't touched and settled on that one, confident that it was the right one. "Ooh! This has _gotta_ be cannons." At the risk of making another mistake, B.E.N. pulled the plug. Well, it wasn't a siren or the main lighting. The purpose of that wire made itself clear when B.E.N. suddenly began to feel a rush of weightlessness. "Maybe not," he said worriedly, his whole body slowly floating upward towards the ceiling of the engine room, the wire still in his hand, until he hit the ceiling.

This made things a bit more problematic.

It was clear now that he had deactivated the artificial gravity function. Other objects around B.E.N. were beginning to float up off the ground, joining him in midair. His stomach felt very slightly queasy, but he managed to get over it. Even though he hadn't had this zero gravity feeling in nearly 120 years of his life, his purpose as a navigator helped him quickly get over that antigravity sickness.

Now, about this little wire…

B.E.N. tried to push himself toward the control box. Unfortunately, being zero gravity was like trying to swim in deep, heavy water. "This is…" he grunted, "harder…than it looks. Ooh! Come on!" He moved with great difficulty, hardly budging an inch closer. "_Let's_ go. _Back_ we go. _Whew!_" B.E.N. kept on trying, feeling determined, pumping his limbs as if he actually _were_ swimming in deep, heavy water. He seemed unaware of little snippets of action taking place somewhere. Oh, but that's beside the point.

"_Oooohh! Back ya go, you naughty plug!_" B.E.N. at last was able to reach the control box. Upon reconnecting the wire, a wave of purple light washed over the floor. "_Aaaahhh!_" he cried out, plummeting hard to the ground in a sprawled heap. "Ah-howch…artificial gravity…reactivated…"

Then, he noticed something nearby…a group of wirings on the ground, labeled "Laser Cannons." These were thicker than the ones in the control box. Come to think of it, why hadn't he seen them before? Pulling the wires turned out to be a bit of a job. When B.E.N. managed to pull them he ended up getting himself tangled up in them.

"Laser cannons disconnected, Captain Jimmy, sir!" the robot called up to Jim, who was sitting in the crow's nest for some reason. The wires B.E.N. had gotten himself tangled up in were sparking as he stood there in the gangway, putting a hand to his hip. "Gee, that wasn't so tough." He sounded as though he had exhausted a bit of his energy (and he _had_), but he had managed to pull it off.

After climbing back down the rigging and meeting up with B.E.N., Jim said, "Do you have any idea what I went through?"

"Uhh…" Really, B.E.N. had no idea how to answer that question. "Do I?"

"Never mind." The boy then helped B.E.N. get untangled. "It looks like you went through some trouble yourself."

"Well, I _had_ to do my duty. Oh, hey, you got the map?"

"Yeah, I did. Now, let' go."

"Roger, Jimmy! Right behind ya!"

And with that, B.E.N., Jim, and Morph took the lifeboat back down to Treasure Planet, sneaking their way back through the hidden entrance into the tower.

Jim and Morph came back up through first, followed by an exhausted B.E.N., who had a little bit of difficulty climbing up through the entrance, panting as he gripped the threshold through which the turquoise light came pouring.

"Doc, Doc, wake up," said Jim, although B.E.N. hadn't quite made it through just yet. "I got the map."

B.E.N. watched a dark, hulking figure reach out a menacing, mechanical hand from the shadows. He remained where he was, frozen stiff. The dark figure happened to be a larger-than-life alien cyborg pirate whose mechanical right hand grabbed the sphere from Jim's hand. "Fine work, Jimbo," the cyborg spoke up, sounding subtly impressed. "Fine work, indeed."

"Uh-oh," the frightened B.E.N. whispered, glancing back and forth at a sight that brought back negative feelings, the sight of a group of distinct pirates emerging from the darkness, snarling and surrounding Jim and Morph. B.E.N. also caught a glimpse of a struggling Doppler and Amelia, who had been tied and gagged.

"Thanks for showin' us the way in, boy," a tentacle-armed pirate sneered, he and the others threateningly closing in on Jim.

Jim attempted to make a break for it, but was immediately caught by the tentacle pirate and a big, fat one. B.E.N. gulped hard at all of this and shuddered silently, watching as Morph chomped at the fat pirate's tail only to get smacked. The robot wished he could help, but he could never stand up to a bunch of brutish pirates that could easily out-number him. Besides, B.E.N. hadn't the physical strength. All he could do was watch helplessly.

Before he could think twice, B.E.N. found himself being forcefully grabbed by the neck and then tossed straight up into the air by a smallish, female pirate. This one walked on two limbs and had a head (which pretty much made up her whole body) shaped like a brain. She then caught B.E.N. in a head-lock, commenting in question, "What's _this_ sorry sack 'o metal?"

"Not the face!" B.E.N. pleaded, wincing fearfully from the blade of a dagger that had been placed close to his very thin and delicate neck. He had no choice but to keep as still as possible, strongly hoping that this female pirate wasn't thinking of severing his head.

"You're just like me, Jimbo," said the cyborg to Jim. "Ya hates to lose."

Jim only struggled, but to no avail. Anger was written all over his face at this point.

Chuckling, the cyborg attempted to open the sphere-like map, but the map wouldn't budge. Frustrated, the cyborg fiddled with the thing, but with no luck. "What the devil's the…" he grunted, giving up the fight. He turned his attention to Jim and shoved the map into the boy's hands, ordering him to open it. There was a deadly silence in the room for a moment. Looking impatient, the cyborg pulled out a laser flintlock from his mechanical arm. This frightened B.E.N. "I'd get busy." The cyborg cocked the gun.

Finally, with the push of a few buttons and a few twists and turns, Jim activated the map. Out of it burst thousands of tiny, flying, green lights that joined together in midair, forming a holographic image of a glowing Treasure Planet. Everyone, even B.E.N., looked on in awe. This was just beginning to ring a bell in B.E.N.'s mind. Why did it look so familiar?

"Oh, the powers that be! Would you look!" the cyborg mused in awe, wide-eyed.

Then, the light pixels changed, transforming into a stream of alien language similar to the markings on the map and on the walls of the interior of this tower. The stream curved out the opening of the tower and pulsed with a yellow light, humming with each pulse. The cyborg hurriedly ran to the opening and chuckled.

"Tie 'im up," he ordered the other pirates, "and leave 'im with the others till we—_what?_"

The pixels suddenly parted and vanished back into the map, which sat in Jim's hand. "You want the map?" said Jim. "You're taking me, too."

B.E.N. couldn't help feeling fascinated by the fact that Jim knew how to work the map. But he remained silent, still feeling the edge of that dagger at his neck.

After a moment of tensed silence, the cyborg chuckled slowly and came to a standing decision. "We'll take 'em all."

To be continued…

—

I have always found it interesting to get inside the mind of a character, especially when he's the comic relief. _One_ of them, at least. I know that you're going to be seeing more of that as the story goes along.

So? Like it so far? Send me a review, please?


	11. Author's Note

Author's note:

It seems that my Life and Times of a Navigator story is growing slowly in popularity. Some of you are wondering when I'll update it. Well, rest assured that I am continuing to work on it non-stop. What I am doing right now is re-writing it. I want it to come out with more literacy and not like some junior novel. No, I want to give as much respect to the characters, capturing their spirits to best of my ability. I am also turning my stories into comic pages, seeing if I can try my hand at comic book-making. So, fear not, my readers and fellow Treasure Planet fans! Both this story and The Purest of Heart are not dead. They are alive and well. They are in the process of being improved as well as being turned into comic books. You will see them in all their glory!

I'll let you know when I start uploading the pages. You'll see them at my deviantArt account: .com.


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